The Report Card
by Hiway202
Summary: Hiro is a genius, but don't tell anyone. He's managed to make it to 5th grade without anyone figuring out he's not just an normal kid, and he wants to keep a secret. But then Hiro gets upset with the emphasis that everyone attaches to grades and he purposely brings home a terrible report card. Suddenly the attention he's avoided all his life is focused on him, and his secret is out
1. Chapter 1: Bad Grades

**I'm sorry! *hides* I made a promise that I would update a story everyday, or at least every other day and I went about three weeks without updating. Why?**

 **W-ell I *finally* got my Sims 4 game to work because stupid EA and Origin and whatever needed internet to install it even though you don't need internet to play it so I had to wait until I went to a motel with free wi-fi before I could play it because our internet problem is terrible. And then, once I got it to work, my mom got addicted to it. But I didn't gain anything from that either! She was playing 24/7 (literally) and I couldn't get my computer back from her! I could barely play the Sims 4. But now she has an MacBook and she is installing the game on there.**

 **But you guys don't care about that.**

 **So, on to the important stuff. This is an actual story. Like a book. You can buy it at Barnes & Noble. It's called _The Report Card_ by Andrew Clements. So, I'm kinda copying the story line, but I'm changing it up so it's like Big Hero 6. So at times this story might be a lot like the book and at times it might not.**

 **IMPORTANT**

 **You don't have to have read the book to understand this story.**

 **Now that we have that settled and this authors note has dragged on forever, lets get on with the story!**

 ****Edit December 4, 2015: Cleaned up spelling/grammar. Changed a teacher's name (because I totally forgot what I named it and the rest of the book had the same name except for this chapter.) You do not need to reread this to understand the story.**

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 **Bad Grades**

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I sat on the late bus on this Friday afternoon. I am eleven years old and in fifth grade.

There were only about fifteen kids on the late bus because it was Friday. I sat near the back with my friend, Liz, and she kept pestering me.

"Come on, Hiro. I showed you my report card. I want to see if I beat you in math. Let me see what you got. Come on."

"No," I said. "No means no. I'm not opening it. I had to go to school everyday, and I had to sit there and take the tests and quizzes when they told me to. But I have a choice about when I look at my grades, and right now I choose not to. So ask me on Monday."

Liz is my best friend. But if any of her friends had been on the bus, she wouldn't be sitting anywhere near me. In fifth grade a girl's best friend isn't supposed to be a guy. And I think that is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. It's so immature. Your best friend is the person you care about the most and who cares back just as much. And that's the way it is with me and Liz. It's not a girl-boy thing. It's just a fact.

Liz was persistent. She'd been having a hard time with her schoolwork for the past ten weeks, and she was obsessed with grades. So she wouldn't shut up about my report card. On and on. And our bus ride home took half an hour.

"Come on, Hiro. It's not fair. You know what I got, but I don't know what you got. I want to see your grades."

Another fact: Sometimes no doesn't mean no forever. There was only about a block to go (but with this San Fransokyo traffic that might take forever) before we got to our bus stop, and I couldn't stand Liz's whining another second. Besides, the truth is, I was dying to know my math grade. I was sure about my grades in all the other subjects, but I'm pretty sure I messed up in math. So I pulled my report card out of my backpack and handed it to Liz. I didn't even care that my whole name was printed on the label: Hiro Kazuki Hamada.

"This is your prize for being the most annoying person in the world."

"Awesome!" Liz said, and she had those grades out faster than a jackrabbit can run.

Then, her face went blank. And her mouth dropped open. And she couldn't speak. Or take a breath. Finally, she said, "No way, Hiro! These can't be right! Mr. Lillie...and Mrs. Butterfield...and everyone! These are the wrong grades!"

I ignored her amazement. I said, "Just tell me what I got in math."

She scanned the page. "You-you got a C."

"Darn it!" I said, kicking the seat in front of us. "I knew it! A lousy C! How could I be so stupid?"

Liz was wishing she hadn't begged to see my grades. She gulped and said, "Uh, Hiro? I hate to tell you this, but your other grades are-" I cut her off.

"I know what they are." Liz was completely confused. She said, "But, but if you know what the others are, then why are you so mad about the C in math. Because the others are...Ds! You got a D in everything! All Ds. Except for that one C."

"Darn it!" I said again. "Math!"

Liz didn't know what to say. "But...but math is your best grade," and because she needed reassuring she said, "because a C is better that a D, right?"

I held my tongue. Then I said more that I should have:

"Not always. A C is not better if you are trying to get a D."

That really confused Liz. And I didn't want her to have time to think about it, so I snatched my report card back and said, "So what did you get in math?"

I already knew the answer to that question because I'd already seen Liz's report card and math is the subject she always tries the hardest in. Liz said, "I-I got an A."

"And is that the grade you were trying to get?" I asked her. She squinted at me.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Then you got what you were trying for and that's good. That's a good grade."

"Uh, thanks?"

We got off the bus at the corner and started walking along the street to our houses. Liz didn't say another word.

I could tell she was worried about my grades. And that was just like her, to be worried about someone else. That's why it's a good thing Liz has someone like me looking after her.

Because I had gotten those Ds on purpose. I had meant to get all Ds. And those Ds were going to get me in big trouble.

But I didn't care about that.

I had gotten those Ds for Liz.

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 **Okay, I know that was like, word for word the book, but that's how some of this story is going to be. So get used to it if you've read the book.**

 **I feel like I was supposed to say something of little importance at the end of this.**

 **Oh yeah! Monday (June 1, 2015) is my last day of school (10th grade). So, you would think that I would have more time to work on my stories. Sadly, I don't because my teacher (in efforts to make me graduate early) is making me take summer school. It works the same way as the independent study program I'm on so I'm already used to it, but since I'm sixteen now I'm also trying to get a job (I've already had an interview with McDonald's and they turned me down and I have an interview with the rec department on Tuesday) so I'm going to try to stick with my update schedule (the one I had before the whole Sims 4 fiasco) and I guess I'm just warning you guys that if I don't stick to it, that's why.**

 **Anyways, thanks if you've read my insanely long authors notes on this story. Please review!**

 **Peace!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Facts of Me

**Sorry about the long wait.**

 **So, I have gotten some questions. As you may know this is a book by Andrew Clements. I am basically taking it and putting the Big Hero 6 characters in it and copying it basically word for word. I know that is plagiarism but this is also fanfiction and it would be just like me taking the fanfiction and retelling it. Like how some people basically retell Big Hero 6 word for word. This is kind of like a crossover except there are really no categories to put with this that this falls under except 'Misc. Books'. So I am just not making it a crossover. It is just Big Hero 6, don't worry. But the story is The Report Card by Andrew Clements.**

 **I hope this clears things up and if not or if you have any questions, feel free to ask me. I'll get to you ASAP!**

 **Without further ado here's chapter two!**

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 **The Facts of Me**

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My room was "a mess." I was supposed to "get it all straightened up" before dinner. "Or else." Aunt Cass's orders.

But I was in no mood to clean. So I just lay there on my bed, thinking. Which wasn't unusual. And the thought came very clearly that a messy room was the least of my problems. That was a fact.

I always loved facts. That's because facts don't change. And that's also why I hate facts too. Sometimes.

I've been discovering facts about me for a long time. It's like I've been doing experiments for years so I can figure out what makes me me.

The facts of me.

Here's one fact I've discovered: I have the opposite of amnesia. I don't think I've ever forgotten anything. I can remember all the was back. I can remember the smell of the soft, blue cloth my mom tucked under my chin to catch the drips when I drank baby formula from a bottle. I can remember each race car on my blanket I slept with in my crib. Twelve race cars.

I also remember the day that my parents died and were taken from me when I was just three years old. It wasn't fair, yet I remember all that stuff.

And I remember back to when I thought everyone else was just like me. Because that's the way it seemed in the beginning. I couldn't tell the difference between myself and everyone else. I thought everyone else was thinking and feeling and seeing the same things I was. But that was not a fact.

Analyzing. That's another fact about me. I do that constantly. It's always been like that.

Then, my mind went through it's filing system and remembered every detail of the day when I first started to see I was different.

It happened the week after my parents died. My big brother, Tadashi and I had just moved in with our aunt Cass. She was the only family we had. I was three and my brother was ten, seven years older. He was an awesome big brother. He was always there for me.

It was Saturday and Tadashi dumped this big, five-hundred-piece jigsaw puzzle onto the floor. It was of a robot. Not really too much to say about that. Just an everyday robot. Tadashi loved robots. One day, he decided, he was going to build a robot.

Tadashi was smart. He hadn't skipped any grades, but he was at the top of his class and was headed for a full scholarship at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology. So I went to watch and Tadashi said, "Does Hiro want to watch his brother put together a puzzle?" I only nodded.

First Tadashi turned all the pieces picture side up. Then he pulled out all the frame pieces and started putting those together. Once the frame was done he started looking for a piece of the robot's eye. So I leaned forward and pointed to a piece.

"What?" asked Tadashi. And then he realized. I pointed to the piece that went there. "Thanks, Hiro," he said and put the piece in the puzzle. Then, he looked at me and said, "Where's the one that goes here?" He pointed to a different part of the puzzle.

I looked at the pieces for a second and then I said, "This one," and pointed to another piece. He put it in the puzzle.

"How about here?" I pointed again, and sure enough, it fit.

Because this wasn't hard for me. I could see all the pieces at once and I could see exactly where they fit. They were just right there.

Then, Tadashi got an idea. He wanted to challenge me. He pointed to a part of the puzzle that was all red and said, "What goes...here?"

I looked over all the puzzle pieces. There must have been nearly one hundred that were mostly red. Tadashi thought I was stumped. But I wasn't. I reached out and picked up a piece and gave it to him.

"Sorry, Hiro. Maybe you'll get it next time. But hey! You got a lot of them." And then he gave me a hug. Because like I said, he is a nice big brother.

But then he looked at the piece that I handed him. And once he brought it closer to the frame, he realized that it was the right piece.

"Whoa! How'd you do that?" he asked. I shrugged.

"I don' know," I said. And then I picked up another piece.

"Why don't you put some pieces in the puzzle, Hiro. You just have to push them it. Like this." He demonstrated.

As I put some pieces in, I could feel how Tadashi was watching me. He had never looked at me this way before. I didn't know I was doing anything unusual. For me, the puzzle was easy. I didn't have to try out ten different pieces to find the correct one. I saw them all at once. I didn't have to slow down and I didn't make any mistakes.

Then, Tadashi ran and got Aunt Cass. And then I felt like I was performing. And I did not like to perform. So I stopped.

"Come on, smarty pants!" Tadashi said. "Keep doing the puzzle, Hiro. Find the piece that goes right there!"

Then, Aunt Cass said, "Come on, Sweet Pea. Add another piece to the puzzle. You can do it, Hiro!"

They wanted a performance! But I wasn't performing, I was just being me.

So I did nothing.

"Come on, Hiro! I know your smart enough to do it!" Tadashi said.

"No!" I yelled. That was it. Puzzle playtime was over.

But later, when I was supposed to take a nap, I crawled out of my toddler bed and walked downstairs and put the whole puzzle together. I took a long look at the robot's black body, it's red face, and the busy background. I decided that when I grew up, I wanted to build a robot just like this one.

Maybe.

Then I took the puzzle apart and put it back exactly as I found it. And then I "took" my nap.

That day I learned some important facts about me. I learned that what seemed normal to me seemed strange to other people. I also learned that I don't like to perform. And that I like robots.

For a week after that, Tadashi and Aunt Cass kept watching me. They were watching to see if I would do anything else that was smart or clever. So I was careful, which might seem weird, but it was a fact. If Aunt Cass or Tadashi or any of the kids at pre-school started looking at me funny, I would stop whatever I was doing. I didn't want to be stared at. So I was careful.

And when I figured out how to read, I was careful about that, too. No one learns how to read until first grade. Maybe kindergarten. So me knowing how to read in pre-school at age three? That had to be kept a secret. Reading was amazing and wonderful and exciting, but I couldn't tell anybody. And there were also a few other reasons. My brother, Tadashi didn't learn how to read until he was in kindergarten. So I figured if I knew how to read now it would be a big deal. And it would make Tadashi feel bad. Or mad at me. Or both. Plus I didn't want Aunt Cass to make me read my own bed time stories. So I kept me learning to read a secret.

I was still lying on my bed, thinking and thinking. And then I remembered my report card. The Ds on my first report card of fifth grade. Those Ds have become a fact. It had been nice to forget them for a few minutes. But forgetting about a fact does not make the fact go away.

And I knew that pretty soon Aunt Cass was going to yell that it was dinnertime.

I got up off my bed, walked over to my desk, grabbed my report card, and licked the flap of the envelope. The glue tasted terrible. I waited a second and then pressed the flap shut. Now the report card was hidden away in its crisp, white envelope. I even smoothed out one of the corners from when Liz ripped it open.

Then, I instantly analyzed what I had done, and I knew why I had sealed the envelope. Those Ds were like a time bomb. Tick, tick, tick, BOOM! The explosion was inevitable. I was putting it off until the last possible second.

I had thought about getting those Ds for a long time. I felt pretty sure that my plan made sense. But still, Aunt Cass has always been crazy about grades.

And I had to face a fact: Those Ds were going to have to be explained.

But not the part about Liz. About how those Ds were related to her.

The part about Liz wouldn't have to be explained until much later.

Maybe never.

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 **There you go, guys. Chapter 2. I hope you enjoyed it! Review!**


	3. Chapter 3: School and Liz

**Here's chapter three!**

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 **School and Liz**

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Soon Aunt Cass was going to call me downstairs for dinner. And after dinner would come The Reading of the Grades. And then, BOOM!

My whole life was ﬂashing in front of me like a report on the six o'clock news. Memories kept ﬂooding in. I couldn't help it. Then I realized this explosion had been building up even since I ﬁrst went to school.

Another fact from the memory ﬁles: I had gotten off to a bad start in kindergarten. That's mostly because I spent my ﬁrst two weeks at San Fransokyo Elementary School hiding under a table in Mrs. Quinn's room, pretending that I was a cat. I meowed and hissed and at snack time I poured my milk into a little plastic bowl I brought from home. That was so I could drink it like real cats do. I even brought some cat food that our family's cat Mochi ate, but that was truly and utterly disgusting.

I acted like a cat until 11:53 every day. Then I would get up, dust off my knees, put on my jacket, and get ready to ride the bus home.

The cat business had started a month before kindergarten began. I had read this article in _National Geographic_ about leopards, and then I learned everything else I could about cats. Plus we had a cat. And I had decided that cats were amazing and wonderful, and I thought it would be fun to see what it felt like to be a cat. That's where the idea came from.

But the real reason I began being a cat at school was because I knew that if I started doing schoolwork in kindergarten, it would be too easy. Everyone would have thought I was too good at it. Being too good would have made me seem too different. It was so much easier to be different by being a cat.

No one would suspect that a cat liked to read the _Encyclopedia Britannica_. No one would guess that a cat had memorized thirty-eight of the poems in _A Child's Garden of Verses_.

No one would suspect that a cat had taught himself to understand Spanish by watching the Univision channel. And no one would suspect that a cat was interested in maps and history and archaeology and astronomy and space travel and the Latin names for animals, like Felis catus, the domestic cat.

I was smart, but I didn't have much experience. I was still a ﬁve-year-old kid. So I made a miscalculation. Because I thought that once everyone at school had gotten used to the idea that I was pretending to be a cat, they'd pretty much leave me alone.

But, of course, that wasn't the way it worked at school.

Right away, Mrs. Quinn called Aunt Cass. Aunt Cass got upset. She thought she wasn't raising me right. She thought she was being a horrible Aunt.

I've always loved Aunt Cass, but she tends to get excited too easily. Especially about school stuff. That's why I always kept one part of myself hidden from her-the smart part. So back when I was in kindergarten she didn't even know I could read. And really, it hadn't been so hard to keep my smart part a secret. Aunt Cass was starting a bakery. And she was obsessed with Tadashi and how he was doing in school. And then there was the fact that she had to take care of him and me. I never tried to get attention and I didn't cause any problems, so everyone left me alone most of the time. I was careful never to give Aunt Cass anything to worry about. I spent a lot of time looking at books when I was little, and I'm sure she noticed that. But she must have thought I just liked to look at the pictures. And I also spent a lot of time watching TV.

But it's not like I was some weirdo zombie tubehead hermit bookworm, because that would have really made her worry. I had friends at pre-school and in the neighborhood. And I liked to play soccer and mess around outside. Aunt Cass thought I was an ordinary kid.

Then I went to school and turned into KinderKat.

So Aunt Cass called the principal, Mrs. Harford. And then the special education teacher and the guidance counselor got involved, and everyone at school decided I had a learning disability. I could feel how they all started looking at me, and I didn't like that. I didn't want people to think there was something wrong with me. So after two weeks I knew I had to stop being a cat.

But I didn't want to start being myself. That seemed dangerous too.

I thought about it and the idea I got was so simple: _Don't be a cat; be a copycat!_ I decided that every day I would be a different kid in my class. I would become a living average of all the other children in my kindergarten.

So one Wednesday morning, instead of getting down under the table, I picked out one kid to copy. I started doing what ever Liz Gorboki was doing, not exactly but pretty close. And she had no idea I was copying her.

When Liz sat on a rug square and watched Lilly pick out the right day of the week to hang on the date board, I sat and watched too.

When Liz got out a puzzle, so did I, and I took as long to do my puzzle as it took Liz to do hers.

When Liz began playing with blocks, so did I. And I tried to make my building look sort of like Liz's.

When Liz sat at a table and tried to draw the letter _A_ with a pencil, I sat down nearby and worked on the letter _B_ with a crayon. I could have written any letter perfectly, and hundreds of whole words, too. But I made it look like writing a _B_ was as hard for me as writing an _A_ was for Liz.

The morning went by quickly, and I was surprised at how many different things Liz did. Kindergarten took on a new meaning for me. It had become my laboratory.

The next day I decided to be like Katerina. She threaded beads, and so did I. She played in the dress-up corner, and so did I. When Katerina colored butterﬂies, I did too, and I even joined Katerina and three other kids in a game of tag during outside recess. It was another educational day for me.

Mrs. Quinn was thrilled about the sudden change in my behavior, and so was the special education teacher, and, of course, so was Aunt Cass. And once I turned into an average kid, the pressure stopped.

However, I was just getting started with my research. Ella, Lauren, Rick, Katie, Phil, Joe, Kellie, Eric, Krissy, Lilly, Gregor, I played copycat day after day, always shadowing a different kid. Each day was new and interesting. I felt like I was part of the class, and I liked that feeling.

But I also learned that I liked being so smart. Because by kindergarten I ﬁgured out an important fact about me: I was a genius. The things that most kids found difﬁcult were easy for me. I had seen the other children working hard to learn their letter shapes, working hard to understand the sounds each letter made, working hard just to make their ﬁngers hold a pencil or a pair of scissors. I knew that none of them were thinking the way I was, or reading the kinds of things I could read. Brandin was the only other kid in my class who could read at all, and just some simple picture books.

Day by day I got a clearer idea of how far ahead I was. That didn't make me think I was better than the other kids, though. The more I got to know them, the more I admired them. I was amazed by all their hard work. I realized I didn't have to work like they did and that I never had. School was different for me. Everything was different for me.

There were ﬁfteen kids in my kindergarten and each one got a turn being copied. So it was about two weeks before I spent another day copying Liz. And it was wonderful because right away I could tell she had made some progress. Liz must have been working on her letter shapes because now she could draw _A_ through _O_ perfectly. Except she made her capital _G_ backward every time. I wished I could help Liz with that, but I knew I didn't dare. Not if I wanted to keep my secret. So I chose _D_ as my backward letter, and I thought, In a couple weeks, when it's time to copy Liz again, maybe she'll have that _G_ turned around.

But two weeks seemed too long to wait.

That's why I followed Liz the very next day, and the next three days after that. And then all next week, too. I watched everything Liz did for nine days in a row, and I heard everything she said. It was an in-depth study.

Liz wasn't one of he smartest kids in the class. I could see that. But Liz was such a good worker. If she couldn't do something, she was patient and she didn't give up. If something was too hard, Liz didn't get mad at herself. She simply moved on and then went back to it. And sooner or later she ﬁgured it out. She liked to sit alone sometimes and look out the window or draw shapes with a pencil or crayon. She didn't look at the pictures in the picture books; she studied them. Also, when Liz played a game, she always played fair. And the most important thing to me was that during all the time I watched her, Liz never said or did one mean or angry thing. Not once. To anyone, even if someone was mean to her ﬁrst.

Then one Monday morning Liz was absent. Same thing on Tuesday and Wednesday. I almost called her house Wednesday night to make sure she wasn't dying or something. Because the thought of school without Liz was suddenly the worst thing I could imagine. When she climbed off the bus on Thursday morning, I wanted to run over and give her a big hug. Of course, I didn't.

But that's when I decided that Liz was going to be my best friend. She was just so nice. Because I thought, _Who could be a better friend than Liz?_ And I also thought, _If Liz was my friend, then I could help her._ Because that's what friends do.

The best thing that happened during my ﬁrst year at San Fransokyo Elementary School was getting to be friends with Liz Gorboki. And the best thing that happened during third grade was when Liz's family moved to a house down the street from me. And the best thing that's happened all ﬁve years I've known Liz is that we kept getting put into the same classrooms with the same teachers.

So I stayed best friends with Liz. And I kept helping her. Carefully. Not show-offy. Not smarty-pantsy. Just some friendly help once and a while. With little things. I was like an extra teacher. Half the time Liz didn't even know she needed help or that I was giving it.

It was during fourth grade. That's when Liz started to change. It was after the big tests we all had to take at the beginning of fourth grade, the STAR test. Because Liz didn't get good scores. And I knew why. I had watched her making faces and chewing her pencil and looking up at the clock every other minute during the tests. It was the pressure that got her, even after all the hours and hours and hours we spent in class getting ready for the tests. I mean, she probably wouldn't have done that great even without the pressure, because, like I said, as far as school went, she was an average student. But all the time pressure didn't help, that's for sure. So Liz's scores on the STAR tests were sort of low. Not terrible, just low.

My scores weren't great either. That's because I found all this information about the tests on the Internet. I ﬁgured out how many questions I had to miss on each section so it would look like I was an average student. Aunt Cass wasn't happy with the scores, but what could she do? In ﬁrst, second, and third grades I had always been an average student, and that's all there was to it, and now the big tests proved it.

So I didn't care about my STAR test scores at all.

But for some reason, Liz did. She cared about her scores a lot. And from what she said, I guess her parents made a big deal about her test scores too.

I noticed a change in Liz right away. She got mad at herself if she messed up on assignments or tests. She worried about tests and quizzes, spelling tests, too, and she was good at spelling. She even started pretending she was sick so she could stay home from school. And Liz had never used to do that. The worst part was that she didn't seem as happy.

Our fourth grade teacher was Mrs. Jeffery and she was great. She said the test scores didn't mean anything. She called them a snapshot, just a chance to look and see where we needed to improve. She said not to worry if the scores seemed low because there was plenty of time to improve. I understood her. And all of that was true. But I could tell Liz didn't believe Mrs. Jeffery. She felt like she wasn't good at school anymore. She felt like school was a struggle.

And Liz wasn't the only one. All the kids started keeping track of test scores and homework grades. School was suddenly all about the competition, and grades were how you could tell the winners from the losers. Every assignment and quiz became a contest. I even saw a couple of kids cheating on a spelling test.

Then in the middle of fourth grade, three kids from our class were chosen to be in the Gifted and Talented Program. The gifted kids went to special classes. They read special books. They had a special teacher, and if they worked hard, they were moved ahead. They could even skip grades. It felt like school had turned into a big race, and it looked like the gifted kids had already won.

Which was one more reason that everyone in our class started sorting themselves out into the smart kids and the average kids and the dumb kids. And that was terrible because Liz started thinking she was one of the dumb kids. It wasn't true, not at all, not for any of the kids. But that's how Liz felt.

Fourth grade was a miserable year for Liz. And for me, too, because a person can't be happy if her best friend isn't.

Liz was glad when fourth grade ended. It felt like her troubles were over, and summer was going to be great, just like always.

But I was looking ahead to ﬁfth grade. Liz didn't know what was coming in ﬁfth grade. She only had a little brother, so Liz was the ﬁrst kid in her family to go through the schools in San Fransokyo, California.

Not me. I knew about ﬁfth grade in San Fransokyo. I had watched Tadashi go through ﬁfth grade. Fifth grade was when Tadashi turned into a little A-making machine, with plenty of pushing from Aunt Cass. Fifth-grade grades were real letter grades, just like the junior high and the high school, no more cute pluses and checks and minuses. Fifth-grade grades were the real thing: As and Bs and Cs and Ds and Fs. Fifth-grade grades would be used to see which kids got into the higher math classes at the junior high. Fifth-grade grades would be used to see which kids got into the advanced English classes and the foreign language program and the accelerated science classes. In San Fransokyo, California, ﬁfth-grade grades mattered.

And if Liz got messed up by the STAR test and a little competition during fourth grade, then ﬁfth grade was going to feel about ten times worse. When Liz hits ﬁfth grade, it was going to be like a train wreck.

During this ﬁrst grading term I had seen it already start to happen. It could only get worse.

Unless someone thought up a way to help.

And that was my job. Because that's what a best friend does. If he can, he helps.

And that's what I was thinking about when Aunt Cass yelled, "Dinnertime!"

"And don't forget," she called upstairs to Tadashi and me. "Please bring your report cards to the table."

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 **Review Replies:**

 **I'mAWhovianAndPotterHead (chapter 1) -** Ooooh, this is a pretty cool idea for a story! Hiro purposely getting bad grades, never thought he'd do that xD - **I never thought he'd do that either...well, until I came up with this idea!**

 **I'mAWhovianAndPotterHead -** I hope you update soon! I'm really enjoying this so far! :) **\- I hope you enjoyed this update! I'm glad you're enjoying this story.**

 **firelass19 -** Hiro... he's so fudging adorable! Tiny Hiro! Tiny Hiro! :) Can't wait to see those Ds... XD **\- Tiny Hiro is the best. So adorable, I agree. :P**

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 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! Please review! Reviews inspire me and keep me going!**


	4. Chapter 4: The Reading of the Grades

**The Reading of the Grades**

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Aunt Cass had made a fantastic meal. Steak and baked potatoes and green beans and a fresh fruit salad and hot rolls and butter and strawberry jelly. There was a white tablecloth and lace place mats and tall green candles and the best silverware. Even cloth napkins.

We always had great food on report card day. No meatloaf. No macaroni and cheese. No tuna-noodle casserole. Not on report card day.

Then came dessert, also wonderful. Apple crisp made with fresh apples from the orchard over in town. Plus vanilla ice cream.

But I wasn't that hungry. It reminded me of the last meal they serve to a prisoner before an execution.

After the dessert dishes were cleared away, we were all sitting at the table, and Aunt Cass said, "All right, who wants to be first to read a report card tonight?"

It was a pointless question. The Reading of the Grades was a well-established ritual. It followed a definite pattern. Tadashi always read his grades first, then me.

Tadashi said, "I'll go first."

It was Tadashi's Senior year in high school. Tadashi had been elected senior-class president. He had been the youngest member two years ago in the Math Decathlon, and the team placed first in the state competition. Tadashi was taking four Advanced Placement courses and one honors class. He wanted to get a scholarship to San Fransokyo Institute of Technology and study robotics.

Aunt Cass smiled and said, "All right, Tadashi. Let's hear how you did."

Tadashi unfolded his computer-printed grade sheet. I knew what was coming. All three of us knew what was coming.

Tadashi began reading. "Honors Chemistry, A plus. A.P. English, A. A.P World History, A. A.P. Physics, A plus. A.P. Spanish, A. Phys Ed, A plus. And an A minus in Mixed Chorus but that's not really my thing. And it won't count in my class rank."

"That's terrific, Tadashi." Aunt Cass smiled hugely. She said, "Not much room for improvement, and that's the way it should be. Great. Just great! You should be very proud of yourself. All your hard work is really paying off."

And then all eyes swung to me.

My cheeks felt hot. I hadn't planed well for this part. I had thought reading my grades out loud wouldn't be a problem. But it was.

Before Aunt Cass could ask, I said, "I don't want to read them. Don't try to tell me that my fifth-grade grades are important, because I know for a fact that they aren't. And they're all based on a bunch of stupid information that anybody with half a brain can memorize. Tests and grades and all of it, it's all...just stupid."

Shocked silence.

Then in a calm voice my aunt said, "Please read your grades to us, Hiro."

I shook my head. "You can look at them if you want to. But I'm not going to read them. My grades are my business, and nobody else's.

Aunt Cass sighed and said, "Hiro, I know this may be hard for you, but it's important. You're in fifth grade now. You have to get used to the fact that grades _do_ matter. They matter a lot. So please, read your grades. I know that everybody's different, and not everyone's going to do as well as everyone else. I'm not comparing you to Tadashi or anybody. I just want to be able to talk about school and how your doing, talk about it as a family."

I didn't budge. "There's nothing to talk about. May I please be excused?"

That was too much for Aunt Cass. "No!" she said. "You may not be excused! You're not leaving this table until you have read your grades out loud to us!"

I put my sealed report card on the middle of my place mat. "Fine," I said. "Sit here as long as you like. But I'm not reading my grades."

A long three minutes passed in silence. Then I folded my arms and put my head down on the table.

Tadashi cleared his throat and said, "Aunt Cass, Johnny's going to be here in ten minutes. We're going to the movies and I've got to get ready. So may I be excused? Please? And could I have my allowance?"

Five minutes after that I was alone at the table.

Around nine-thirty I pulled three chairs together so I could lie down. I kicked my shoes off, moved a bunch of things out of the way, and slid the table cloth toward me so I could use it as a blanket.

* * *

I'd been asleep, so I'm not sure what time it was. But it was later and I heard Aunt Cass say, "Could you carry him up to bed, Tadashi? He's won this round and I should admit it."

I keep my eyes shut.

Tadashi said, "Yup. He's a tough one. He'd make a great lawyer, though I supposed he'd have to get into a law school somewhere first."

I heard the sound of ripping paper. And I knew what it was. Aunt Cass was opening my report card.

I heard her pull in a sharp breath and then say, "My goodness. No wonder Hiro wouldn't read this! Look, Tadashi, all Ds! Everything but math, and that's a C!"

"Gosh." That was Tadashi. "How did this happen?"

"Well, we could wake him up and ask him," Aunt Cass says, but then, "Poor child, think how ashamed he must feel about such terrible marks. Just take him upstairs, Tadashi. I'll talk to him about them tomorrow."

I felt the tablecloth slip off my back and legs, and then Tadashi's strong arms lifted me up.

It had been a long time since Tadashi had carried me up to bed in our shared bedroom.

I heard Aunt Cass behind us on the stairs. "Careful you don't bang his head on anything."

And Tadashi joked, "With grades like these, it probably wouldn't hurt."

Aunt Cass said, "That's not funny."

I was glad they didn't try to get me into my pajamas because I'm sure it would have tickled. Aunt Cass just peeled off my socks, tucked my blanket under my chin, kissed me softly on the forehead, and then closed the door. Tadashi followed her.

I opened my eyes and stared into the darkness.

I wondered if I had done enough thinking about my plan. Because first I had tried to think about what I wanted to accomplish, and then I had tried to think of all the steps I had to take, and how my steps would lead to the steps other people would take. I had done a lot of thinking, and that's something I've gotten good at.

But had I thought of every single thing that could go wrong at every single step, and had I thought of enough ways to get around each possible problem?

Lying there in the dark, I faced a fact: I wouldn't know if my plan would work until it did. Or didn't.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **firelass19 -**...the world is fudging cruel. I realized a long time ago that school was competitive, but to think that this principle had been instilled within us since 4th grade... sorry, I'm just a little mondblown. God, I hate the system... - **Gosh, I know, right. I remember, competing in fifth grade for the top grade and I always wanted to have the best grade because it was just** **ingrained in me that I had to get all A's. And our teacher would hang class grade sheets in the back so everyone could see everyone's grades. It's just the worst. I hate the system, too.**

* * *

 **Okay, so I have two more chapters ready, and I'll upload them at a good pace. I was also thinking of a sequel to this story that is my own original idea because I really want to write my own idea with this, but that won't be for a while because there are at least twenty-two chapters in this. So, what do you guys think?**

 **Review!**


	5. Chapter 5: Solitary Confinement

**Solitary Confinement**

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Tadashi was still in bed when I walked into the kitchen on Saturday morning. Aunt Cass was sitting at the table drinking coffee. I could tell she had been waiting for me.

I didn't like this part of the plan. This part of the plan was going to be pretty hard on Aunt Cass. And so were some other parts. It wasn't really fair to her, but it couldn't be helped. After all, I wasn't the one who had made up the rules around here.

Aunt Cass didn't even say "good morning." She said, "I opened you grade report last night, Hiro." She sighed. "Never in my life have I seen such bad grades, even on my report cards."

I said, "I don't want to talk about it. You saw the grades. I got Ds. And one C. Those are my grades. I don't want to talk about it."

"Hiro, please," Aunt Cass said. "There must be a reason you got such awful grades. Are you unhappy? Have the children at school been teasing you? Have you been feeling sick? Or is it something else?"

I shook my head as I scanned the row of cereal boxes on the counter. I poured some fruit loops into a bowl and said, "I don't want to talk about it, Aunt Cass. I got the grades I got and that's all there is to it."

Aunt Cass raised her voice. "'All there is to it'? Well, then your grounded, young man! And that's all there is to it! You don't want to let me help you, then that's the way it is. You can just sit in your room until you decide to cooperate." She took a bite of a muffin. Stress eating.

I munched my cereal, swallowed, and took a sip of orange juice. I said, "Fine by me." Then I said, "Am I allowed to read, or do I have to just sit in the corner and look at the paint on the walls?" Which was a lot sassier than usual. But that was part of the plan too.

Aunt Cass took a deep breath to calm herself down. She said, "Hiro, don't be disrespectful. You know better than that. And you know me better than that too. I only want to help you, but first you've got to help me."

I looked up at her. "But I don't want any help. Did I ask you to come to school and take my tests for me? Did I ask you to read my assignments for me? Or do my homework? I don't need help."

She didn't talk anymore and neither did I. After my last spoonful of cereal, I tipped up my bowl and drank the milk. I wiped the milk off my upper lip, laid my napkin on the table, got up, and put my bowl and spoon and glass into the dishwasher. Then I said, "I'll be up in my room."

I spent the rest of Saturday reading the article on the history of China in the _Britannica_. Tadashi was out so I didn't have to worry about him seeing what I was reading. It was a long article, about 500,000 words. I'd been chipping away at it for almost a week and was only up to A.D. 1368, the beginning of the Ming Dynasty. It felt good to have some forced reading time.

I was allowed out of my room for meals, and on Sunday morning I went to church with everyone, but then it was right back to my cell.

At about eight o' clock on Sunday night my aunt came in and sat down on the edge of my bed where I was reading. I knew why she'd come. It was time to get ungrounded. The way I figured, unless your a teenager with places to go and friends to go with and money to spend when you get there, grounding is a pretty pointless punishment.

And sure enough, her first words were, "Hiro, I have decided that your grounding is over. But I don't want you to think I'm not concerned about this. This isn't like you, Hiro."

I looked up from my book. "Isn't like me? What am I like?"

Aunt Cass smiled. "Why, you're sweet and thoughtful, and you want to do your very best at everything, Hiro. That's what you're like." I gave a little snort, but she ignored the noise. "And if you need help," she continued, "you're smart enough to ask for it."

"I told you, Aunt Cass. I don't need help. And since when have I been _sweet_? Or _thoughtful_?"

Aunt Cass stayed focused on her main topic. "But there's nothing wrong with asking for help. We all need help now and then. Besides, you don't want to get a reputation for not caring about your work. Grades are very important, Hiro. So, whether you like it or not, first thing tomorrow morning I'm going to school to talk to Mrs. Harford. It's just not right that a perfectly normal student should be allowed to get all Ds. And one C. And I didn't get a single academic warning letter from the school, not one. The school has some explaining to do." She paused, her eyes searching my face. "You understand, don't you, Hiro? I'm not trying to embarrass you. But I have to get to the bottom of this."

I shrugged and said, "Sure. I understand." And I did. I had been certain she would visit the school after she saw those grades.

Aunt Cass stood up and started to leave, but she stopped at the stairs, turned back, and said, "I love you, Hiro."

I looked up and said, "I love you too."

And that was a fact.

But as I lay there on my bed I wondered if she would be able to say that in a week or two.

* * *

 **Review Replies:**

 **Hoytti -** There are people out there that don't care about grades. Instead, we care about whether we are intrested in the subject. We are known to have Autistic Tendencies, The original term was Aspergers. It wrecks havic during the school years as we refuse to do/learn things that we aren't interested in... or think is pointless. We also tend to not notice other peoples emotions very well Example. why are there so many words that mean the same thing in English. Why not have at most 3 per definition instead of 10 or 15? - **I wish I didn't care about grades. I have all this pressure that I have to get the best grades, get into the best college. But, that's good and that there are people out there that don't care. Gives me hope.**

 **firelass19 -** That's terrible... to post all the grades in the back of the classroom is terrible. I had a mental disability during elementary which I luckily outgrew so I can't say that I remember much. However, I know that my grades were not... satisfactory so I think I can relate to Liz (lol, I wish I could relate to Hiro XD). Im really hoping that Hiro's plan work somehow :) - **I know. It really made us all too competitive. I'm glad you outgrew your mental disability. I think I relate to Liz now, but at the beginning of my schooling I was a perfect student so, I probably related to Hiro, you know when he isn't pretending he is an average student. But, honestly, I'm kind of glad I don't get all A's anymore because it made people look at me differently. As for Hiro's plan, I guess you'll just have to wait and see! :P**

 **Ern Estine 13624 -** Getting awesome good can't wait for more :) - **Glad you like it. I have two mare chapters typed that I just need to proofread now, so it shouldn't be too long.**

 **Fluttershy127 -** Avsome can't wait! - **I'm glad you like it!**

 **Dreamer (guest) -** I wouldn't mind a sequel. Especially if it is something you'vetho ught of yourself. I don't mind borrowed stories, and this is making me want to read the original as well, but at the same time. I want to hear more from your point of view. At least Aunt Cass seems understanding...for now. I remember wanting to get good grades in middle school, but my parents never pushed for it, and certainly a teacher wouldn't hand the grades on a classroom wall...I guess I'm one of the lucky ones who was sheltered from the pressures of good grades. Now I'm in college and I'm the one upset with my grades with my parents telling me that its ok...a little reverse, but at the same time, I feel as if I'm like Hiro-in that I mean, not wanting people to know how easy learning (at least in my studies) comes for me... Please continue. I will definitely be looking forward to a sequel and view this as a very detailed prologue. - **I'm glad you like it, and I'm glad you're looking forward to the sequel. I'm really looking forward to writing in my point of view. My school was stupid. Hanging grades on a classroom wall, I mean how more dumb can you get? Do you want the kids to get competitive and only care about grades? This will be a very detailed prologue indeed. I'm glad you like it!**

 **celrock (chapter 3) -** Wow! Nice backstory about the relationship between Liz and Big Hiro Six. Anyway, keep up the great writing! - **Thanks!**

 **celrock -** Another great chapter! Keep up the great writing! - **Thanks!**

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 **Thanks, everyone, for all your support! Really! All you're reviews inspire me. Let's all remember the original author though: Andrew Clements!**

 **Review! And maybe I'll post more tonight!**


	6. Chapter 6: Stakeout

**Note: This is my second chapter to upload today. You might want to make sure you have read chapter 5.**

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 **Stakeout**

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"So are you grounded, like forever?"

That was Liz's first question when we met at the bus stop Monday morning. She could have tried to call me on Saturday or Sunday. She didn't call me very often these days, and it was usually just to ask about homework.

"No," I said. "I'm not grounded. Not anymore. But my aunt is going to talk to the principal this morning. So stay tuned."

"I don't get it," Liz said, "how you got such rotten grades. You never do worse than me."

I ignored her bad grammar and shrugged. "Well, I did this time."

I could tell she had more questions, but Jadelyn and Josephine came whooping down the street, and Jadelyn shouted, "Hey, Liz!" Guess what? I got forty dollars for my grades, so I got the new Sims 4 game!" And it was like I had disappeared.

That was another thing about fifth grade. Liz didn't even try to include me when her girl friends were around. But I didn't make it into a big deal. Besides, I had plenty to think about on the bus ride to school.

My first-period class was language arts, and every other Monday Mrs. Butterfield took us to the library. Our library was right across the hall from the office, so I grabbed a copy of _Time_ magazine and got a chair with a clear view of the entrance hall. I pretended to read, but I was on stakeout duty.

At 9:07 Aunt Cass showed up. I saw Mrs. Harford come out of her office and shake her hand. Then she followed her back inside and her door shut behind them.

At 9:14 the intercom in the library chimed, and the school secretary's voice said, "Mrs. Butterfield, please come to the main office."

Mrs. Butterfield walked across the hall, and the secretary steered her into the principal's office.

At 9:16 Mrs. Butterfield hurried out of the office and down the hall toward her classroom. Less than a minute later she was back, still hurrying, and she had something in her hand. It was her green grade book.

I had a pretty good idea what was going on in the principal's office.

At 9:23 Aunt Cass left. I ducked behind my magazine in case she looked my way. Then it was all clear.

When Mrs. Butterfield came back into the library, I kept my eyes on the page in front of me, but I have good peripheral vision. Mrs. Butterfield looked right at me, a long, slow look. And then she went into the librarian's office. She shut the door and started talking to Mrs. Jensen. When I glanced up a minute later they were both looking at me.

By fourth-period math, Mrs. Butterfield must have already talked to Mr. Lillie because after we went over the homework, Mr. Lillie looked right at me and said, "Hiro, are you sure you understand this?" And when he assigned our new work, Mr. Lillie came over and asked me to do two problems while he watched. He had never done that before.

It was like that all day. All my teachers paid more attention to me, sort of checking up on me all the time. And I understood exactly why.

Most kids think that if they get bad grades, it's their problem. But that's not true. The fact is, when a kid gets a bad grade, it's like the teacher is getting a bad grade too. And the principal. And the whole school and the whole town and the whole state. And don't forget the parents and guardians. A bad grade for a kid is a bad grade for everybody.

After school I hurried to the library because I wanted to get there before all the computers got reserved.

I'd been staying after school for the extended-day program since first grade, and I could either go to the gym or the library. I almost always went to the library. Liz did the extended-day program too because both her parents worked, I just did it just for fun. But Liz only went to the library once in a while.

No one was using my favorite computer over in the corner, so I sat down and punched in my password. When the system recognized me, I opened an Internet browser, went to google and typed in "STAR testing." There were a ton of Web pages and I found my favorite one. It listed nine ways the state could improve the STAR test. I'd been online for about three minutes when Mrs. Jensen came walking towards me, so I switched screens to a kids' page about ocean currents. I didn't want her to know the kind of research I was doing.

Mrs. Jensen smiled and said, "Hiro, I just got a call from Mrs. Harford. She'd like to talk to you in her office."

"Now?" I asked. "Today?"

She nodded. "That's what she said. I'll walk over with you, okay?"

I said, "Sure. Can I leave my things here, or should I bring them?"

"Better bring them," she said, "just to be sure they're safe."

I grabbed my book bag and my jacket. My mind was zooming along at a million miles an hour. This little talk with Mrs. Harford wasn't in my plan.

 _But so what?_ I said to myself. _You knew something like this would happen sooner or later, right? So what if it's a whole lot sooner? No big deal._

By the time we walked to the principal's office, I had calmed myself down.

 _No big deal_ , I told myself again.

Then the door opened.

Wrong. It was a big deal. A very big deal.

Aunt Cass was sitting at the large, round conference table. And Mrs. Butterfield. And Mr. Lillie. And Mrs. Young, the music teacher. And Mr. Rawlinson, the art teacher. And Mrs. Spurrier, the gym teacher. And Ruth Burke, the guidance counselor.

Mrs. Jensen followed me in and took a seat next to Mrs. Butterfield.

And there they sat. All my teachers. And my aunt. And the guidance counselor. And the principal.

Mrs. Harford stood up, she smiled and nodded at me. I must have had an awful look on my face because she said, "Please, don't be scared, Hiro. This is a very friendly little group. When your aunt stopped in this morning, I decided it would be a great idea for all of us to get together and talk about your report card. Sorry to surprise you, but we didn't want you to worry about it all day, because, honestly, there is absolutely nothing to worry about. Please take a seat there, next to your aunt. And remember, we're all here because we care about you."

Everyone was smiling and nodding at me as I sat down.

I learned an important fact at that moment: Just because I'm really smart doesn't mean that I can't have a good old-fashioned panic attack.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **firelass19 -** Hiro's smart - to question grades. I never did until I hit my late rebellious phase. Let's just say that when I decided to BS school wasn't the best time... hahaha. Yolo, I'm doing fine now so I'm just going to say that Hiro is going to be too. Actually screw that, Hiro's a fudging GENIUS - he'll be more that fine XD Thank you for the chappie! I would be balling my eyes out if my guardian reprimanded me like that. Hiro's gutsy and a hundred percent smart-ass. Loving it :P - **Hiro being a smart ass is the best. And I'm sure Hiro would be fine, just as you said. When I reached 7th grade I decided school didn't matter. I literally woke up one day and was like, "I'm not going to do my homework anymore. Grades don't matter." It took me until 11th grade to realize that if I wanted to get into college, that They did matter. I'm doing much better now. Not perfect, but better. Anyways, I'm glad you like it!**

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 **Thanks for reading, you guys. Review!**


	7. Chapter 7: The Element of Surprise

**The Element of Surprise**

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As I sat at the big round table between my aunt and the guidance counselor, I felt like I was trapped in a sandwich. It was mealtime in the principal's office and the main dish was sliced Hiro.

Mrs. Harford liked big meetings. She always had. Almost every other week she called an all-school assembly or an all-fifth-grade meeting or an all-second-grade meeting or some kind of gathering of kids and teachers. She said it gave the school "cohesiveness." She said it created "good group dynamics" for all of us to see each other's faces. And she said a meeting as a large group helped us solve our problems all together, all at once. That was clearly what she had in mind today.

Mrs. Harford sat down and took charge. "Since Miss Hamada asked for all of you to be here, perhaps she should mention a few of her concerns she shared with me this morning. Then maybe Hiro's teachers can explain things from their perspective. And if he wants to, maybe Hiro could share a little too. How does that sound?"

My aunt nodded and smiled and cleared her throat. She was happy to talk first. She said, "I really appreciate all of you taking the time to come and talk. It's one of the things I've always loved about the San Fransokyo schools. My first concern today, apart from Hiro's grades themselves, is that I had no warning that there was a problem, not so much as a note or a phone call. And I'd like to understand how that happened."

Nobody said anything for about three seconds.

Then Mrs. Jensen said, "I can only speak about Hiro's grade in library skills, of course, but it's pretty clear what happened."

Mrs. Jensen had her grade book open on the table in front of her. So did all my other teachers. My heart was pounding so hard that I was sure Aunt Cass would hear it.

Mrs. Jensen ran her index finger along a row of numbers. "On the first three quizzes and our first reference search, Hiro got scores that averaged to about seventy-two percent, which is a low C. And that's what he had at the seventh week of the term. That's when we mail out academic warnings to parents. And since Hiro didn't have a D or lower, there was no warning. Then on the next quiz and our final Internet research project, Hiro did quite poorly. And that pulled his grade down. I entered his scores, calculated the average, and there it was." Mrs. Jensen looked at me and smiled. "Hiro is one of the library's very best customers, so I didn't like having to give him a D, but that's the way it happened."

"Mr. Lillie nodded. "Exactly," he said. "Numbers are numbers and an average is an average. Same thing in science and math classes for Hiro. His grades dropped off right at the end of the term, and that was it. No warning for you, no warning for me."

All my other teachers started nodding and agreeing. Mrs. Spurrier cleared her throat and said, "Ditto in gym class. Cs all term, then a big fat F on the obstacle course fitness challenge. Dropped him to a D."

I could tell Aunt Cass didn't like it when Mrs. Spurrier said "big fat F." But I sort of enjoyed it. I was proud of that F. I was probably the only kid in the history of the school to fail the obstacle course fitness challenge. It took a lot of creativity to look completely uncoordinated and totally out of shape.

Mrs. Burke said, "I would like to make an observation." She was the guidance counselor. She was also the psychologist for the school district. She opened a big folder and started shuffling papers around. I knew what that folder was. It was the Hiro Hamada folder, all the records from my past five years at San Fransokyo Elementary School.

She adjusted her glasses and then tried to smile at my aunt. She didn't look at me. "Miss Hamada, I know this sort of report card can be upsetting, but honestly, grades like this aren't that far out of line with Hiro's STAR testing profile, or with his academic history here at the elementary school. The San Fransokyo school system has very high standards. Hiro's been an average student, right there in the middle, with room to move either way. And sometimes grades can get tipped downward instead of upward. That's all. And sometimes performance can be related to all sorts of things. Things like unusual stresses at home, like losing a job, or perhaps a death in the family. Sometimes even little disturbances can make a big difference."

Right away Aunt Cass got defensive. She said, "Are you pushing this problem back at me? We're not talking about my job or my family life here. You people handed out almost a dozen Ds and you didn't even know what each other was doing. No one stepped up to help a kid who clearly needed some. And now it's my fault?"

Mrs. Harford said, "I'm sure Ruth Burke didn't mean to make it seem like this was anyone's fault. We're certainly not trying to assign any blame here. We just want to understand what happened so we can make the right adjustments."

Aunt Cass didn't seem calm, and Mrs. Harford didn't want to ask her if she had more to say because she probably did. So she kept talking and said, "Well, one person we hadn't heard from yet is Hiro." Then looking at me, Mrs. Harford smiled and said, "Hiro, is there anything you can tell us that can help us understand what happened at the end of the grading term?"

This meeting wasn't something I had planned for. But it was an interesting opportunity. I had all my teachers and my aunt in one place. I could make a big impression on everyone, all at once. So I tried to stay calm and I decided I needed to say something...remarkable. I needed to find something surprising, something that would make everybody...wonder.

I said, "Umm...," because I was trying to think of something amazing.

And then I said, "Well...," because I was still thinking.

And then I found it, the perfect thing to say.

I said, "Um...I guess I didn't do very well in my classes and everything. But I'm not mad about my grades. I like Ds."

I felt Aunt Cass stiffen.

Mrs. Harford paused a moment. Then slowly she said, "You like Ds? What do you mean, Hiro?"

"You know, Ds," I said. "Ds have a pretty shape." And I kept this blank, happy little smile on my face.

The room went dead silent.

And I realized another fact: When I need to be, I'm a pretty good actor.

Mrs. Harford was the first person in the audience to come back to life. She said, "That's very...interesting, Hiro." Mrs. Harford glanced once around the table. She said, "Well. Perhaps we've all got enough to think about for right now. I know everyone will be working to help Hiro earn better grades in this new term, and I know all our staff will do their best to stay in touch with his guardian." She paused and then she said, "There is one other thing I talked about with Miss Hamada this morning. I suggested that it might be helpful if we give Hiro some additional evaluation, and she agreed. That way we can know the best kind of help to offer. So this is a heads up because Mrs. Burke might need to take Hiro out of class now and then over the next few days." Looking around the table with a smile, Mrs. Harford said, "All right then. If no one has anything else, our little meeting is adjourned. Thank you all for coming."

I looked at the clock. The meeting had only lasted nine minutes. It had felt longer than that. It probably had felt a lot longer to Aunt Cass.

Out in the hall, Aunt Cass said,"Do you have all your things, Hiro? I'm going to take you home." I nodded so we went out the door.

When we got outside, I had to run to keep up with Aunt Cass. When we were halfway to the car, she said, "What in the world were you talking about in there, Hiro? You _like_ the shape of Ds?! What did you mean by that?"

I shrugged. "Nothing. It was just something to say."

Aunt Cass muttered, "More like something that made no sense."

There wasn't any chitchat in the car during the ride home.

So I analyzed the situation, and here's what I came up with:

1\. I had a gang of grown-ups thinking about my grades.

2\. Plus they were all convinced that I was an idiot.

3\. Aunt Cass was so upset she couldn't talk.

4\. Plus she wanted to take a punch at someone.

5\. The school was going to do some "additional evaluation." Of me.

And I decided that, all in all, it had been a pretty good day.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **Fluttershy127 -** i like the story i havent read the book so i have no idea wnat is going to happen! -) but i'm looking forward to find out! - **I'm glad you like it! Keep reading!**

 **Ern Estine 13624 -** Getting awesome good can't wait for - **I'm going to assume that last word was more. I'm glad you like it!**

 **firelass19 -** I'm glad to hear that you're doing better now :) Lol, I love that last line. But fudge, i'ld shit my pants out if ALL my teachers and guardian and whoever else was standing there. Yep, good - old fashioned panic attack summarizes it well XD Thank your the really quick update! I was like, "Hell yes!" And started reading as soon as I woke up :P - **Yep. :P That last line sums everything up. I'd have the same reaction. Glad you like the quick updates. (Who doesn't?) I have up to chapter 10 uploaded in the Doc Manager and I keep working really fast on new chapters because I love this story and I love all my reviews and followers and favorites. So the quick updates should keep coming! :)  
**

 **celrock -** Read the last couple of chapters, and I'll be curious to see how the meeting with the teachers and all goes in the next chapter. For me in school? I was one to always get my work done, and at points, I still got C's and D's, but it was the best I could do, so there was no sweat. My brother though, is a lot more like Hero. A genius, who could make straight A's, so when he came home with a C on his report card, it usually meant he didn't get his work done. I recall seeing a lot of this when he was in middle school and early on in highschool. I even recall this one time, he had video games and television taken away, and while I wasn't grounded at the time, because I did just fine, I recall not watching any TV or playing any video games, just to make him feel better and not left out. I think it only annoyed him though, so stopped about a couple of days later. Also, interesting that one of Liz's friends got money for her grades. Back when we were in elementary school, middle school and high school, my brother and I got money for our grades, and I got to where I'd take the money I got from all four quarters of report card grades at the end of the year, and buy something big. It's thanks to that money I got my first TV, VCR, and other electronics, some of which, I still have to this very day. I believe each A got $10.00 a piece, and each B earned us $5.00 a piece, we didn't get any money for C's, D's, or F's, obviously, since D's and F's equal failing marks, while a C was considered average. Anyway, keep up the great writing, I look forward to reading more of this when it's available! - **Interesting... I remember I would always play the Sims 3 in seventh grade because that's when I first got the game. I played it so much that I didn't do my school work or didn't do it as well as I could and so my mom took the game away ("But I'm doing my sim child's homework," I always said.) I don't know where I was going with that but, *shrugs*. Oh, but I do remember getting money for my grades, too. I just got money for A's and it was $5, but money's money. I remember getting $40 from grades and I spent it on stupid stuff. Anyways, I don't even know what I'm talking about. I keep telling myself that this is why I can't update my stories this late... So, I'm glad you're enjoying the story!**

 **Sydney (guest) -** LOVE MUCH LOVE - **Thanks! Keep reading!**

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 **So, major good news for me. I got accepted to my town's junior college to take a English class that way I can take a Creative Writing class later. All I have to do now is pass the placement test and it looks supper easy. Like, basically an eighth grader could probably pass it. I'm just really nervous because I don't want to screw this up. I mean, I'm in 11th grade so I don't have to get into this class but I really want to because I want to take a Creative Writing class and my school work is super easy because I'm on independent study, so I want to challenge myself, too.**

 **Anyways, thank you all for reading. I'll update soon!**

 **Review!**


	8. Chapter 8: Roadkill

**Oh my gosh! I am so sorry I didn't update yesterday! I had to take a practice test for college when I usually update and then it was like two in the morning so I had to go to bed because my test was at nine. But anyway, here's a chapter!**

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 **Roadkill**

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There was a dead squirrel in front of the school on Tuesday morning. It had been there a while, and a group of kids were out on the sidewalk, cheering whenever it got run over again by a passing car or bus. It was not a nice way to start the school day, and it didn't exactly make me feel proud to be a human.

In homeroom Mrs. Butterfield handed me a note: "Please report to Ruth Burke's office immediately after lunch and plan to stay there during sixth and seventh periods." Which was lousy news. That was during science and music, two of my favorite classes.

And I knew what would be happening: evaluation. Of me.

We had free reading time at the beginning of first-period language arts, and Liz came and sat beside me on the pillows in the reading corner. She held up her book and whispered, "I heard about your big meeting yesterday."

"You did?" I asked. "How?"

"How?" said Liz. "'Cause it's all over the school, that's how. I head that Jared DeVille was in the nurse's room after school. He saw Mrs. Jensen take you to the office, and he saw all the teachers. And your aunt. Everyone knows you got bad grades, too. I guess that's kind of my fault. 'Cause I told Jacob and he told Jared. Sorry about that. And I'm really sorry you're in so much trouble. Did they yell at you and stuff?"

"Of course they didn't," I said. "And I'm not in trouble."

Liz frowned and said, "You sure? 'Cause my mom would send me away to boarding school or something if I even got one D, let alone a bunch of 'em. And Jared said you were crying when you came out of the office, and your aunt was dragging you by the arm."

"What?! That's a lie!" and I said it so loud that Mrs. Butterfield looked up from her book and frowned at me. So I pretended to read until the coast was clear, then I hissed, "No one yelled at all, and no one even came close to crying, least of all me. Oooh! That Jared DeVille is gonna get it!"

Liz needed more proof that I hadn't been tortured in the meeting. She said, "So...if they didn't yell at you, what did everyone say?"

"Nothing much," I whispered. "My aunt wanted to know how come she didn't get any warnings about my Ds. And the teachers had to explain why I got the bad grades. It was all pretty stupid. I got bad grades because I did bad on some tests, duh. And now they want me to take more tests to see if I'm as dumb as they think I am."

"But you're not dumb," Liz said. "Even I know that, and I really am dumb."

I pushed her on the arm. "Don't ever say that, Liz. I _hate_ it when you say that."

She shrugged. "You're the one who always says you have to face the facts. So face it: I'm dumb."

I pushed her again, and that was one too many disturbances.

"Hiro." Mrs. Butterfield was using her soft, reading-time voice. "Either read quietly or I will find you some other work and another place to sit. Final warning."

I nodded and put my nose in my book. But I whispered to Liz, "Bad test grades do _not_ mean you're dumb, and I am _not_ in trouble. And if you see that Jared DeVille, you tell him to start fixing those rotten rumors before I fix him!"

When I went to my locker after first period, Lucy Green came up to me. Lucy wears a different colored ribbon in her hair every day, and she always holds her books and her notebook up tight against her stomach with both arms. She whispered, but Lucy's whisper carries about ten feet. So we had an audience.

"Hiro. I heard about your grades. Your averages, they must be _ruined_! What are you going to do? Do you think your going to get left back? I couldn't stand it if you got left back."

I smiled as best as I could. "It's okay, Lucy. I won't get left back, I promise."

"Well," she said, "if there's anything I can help you with, just ask me, okay? Because I got almost straight As, and I really would help you if you wanted, okay?"

I looked hard at Lucy, testing for acid in her face or her eyes. Not a trace, only sweetness. Lucy meant every word. And she wasn't bragging about her grades, just stating a fact.

So I smiled and said, "Thanks, Lucy. That means a lot to me." And it did. Lucy truly felt bad for me. She helped me remember that as far as everyone else was concerned, I was going through a crisis, an ordeal.

Because for everyone else it was an absolute fact that fifth-grade grades mattered. My grades made me look like that dead _Sciurus carolinensis_ on the road out in front of the school.

And in less than three hours, Mrs. Burke was going to get out her measuring tools and try to figure out just how flat this squirrel really was.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **firelass19 -** Yaya! So happy for the updates Is it ironic if 'D' if my favorite letter? *counghHasNothingToDoWithMyRealName*Cough. I wouldn't be idiotic (or smart?) Enough to say it in front of other people but yeah... Thank you so much for the update! I'm looking forward to the next chapter :) - **'D' is my favorite letter, too. *cough*HasNothingToDoWithMyFavoriteTVShow*cough* You're welcome for the update. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **SYDNEY (guest) -** I lubb it :) **\- Thanks!**

 **WickedInk -** I'm really curious to know what Hiro is playing at here XD but I also think it's a little sad that he feels different like that and hides that he is smart...I have always been a pretty smart kid and I knew how to read when I was three because my sister taught me, my pre-k and kinder garden teacher didn't like it because they said I would make the other kids feel bad so they didn't let me read in class with the other kids, it was awful and everyone thought I was stupid and when I did finally begin reading they all thought I just hadn't cared. I don't like people knowing how smart I am either so I can relate to this but at the same time I don't like people thinking I'm stupid so I usually keep an AB average in all my classes every now and again I will keep a high C then pull it up when my mom fusses lol anyway this is a great story idea and I can't wait to read more - **Aw, that is terrible! I learned to read when I was three, also. I taught myself with the little Scholastic books that they have on tape and in kindergarten I was in love with the Junie B. Jones series. You couldn't get me to stop reading them. But everyone treated me differently because I was so different. And, like Hiro in the earlier chapters, it was amazing that kids struggled with little things that I could do so easily. Now, I'm not a genius (far from it, my grades will tell you that :P) but in my younger years, I could relate to Hiro, too. Except my parents knew I was smart so I had to do my best, but I hid other things, and now I'm just going on and on... Anyways, glad you like the story! Hope you enjoyed this update!**

 **celrock -** Ok, that comment that Hero made about liking the shape of the letter D, had to be by far, the most bogus thing for a genius to say, but all in all, another excellent chapter, and I look forward to reading more when it's available! - **I guess, but he wanted to make a good (bad?) impression. Thanks for reading!**

 **Guest (guest) -** Hehe I lIke the shape of the D ehehehe nice hiro. I would've been surprised too. Greats story and congrats on the class you got! Though you hardly need any practice seems to me you already write beautifully! - **Haha! Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy the story!**

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 **Thanks for reading, you guys. I'm also updating my All Grown Up! story _Give Up or Die Trying_ tonight. You can find that in the Rugrats/All Grown Up! category or on my profile page if your interested. Thank you for reading!**

 **Review!**


	9. Chapter 9: Cornered

**Cornered**

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It was raining at lunchtime, so I got a pass to go to the library. Indoor recess in the gym was always noisy and confused, and the library was always just the opposite.

I went to a table near the back wall to do my math homework. I was whipping through the sixth problem when a voice said, "Hiro?"

I jumped a mile. I hadn't heard Mrs. Jensen come up behind me. She smiled and said, "Sorry to startle you. Sometimes this carpet is almost too quiet. May I talk with you over at the front desk?"

"Sure," I said, and I got up and followed her.

She said, "Back here," and she motioned behind the desk to the long work counter. "I want you to read something I printed out yesterday." Then she handed me ten or fifteen pieces of paper that were stapled together.

I knew instantly. I knew what I was holding. I pretended to read the first sheet, but I hardly saw the words. My thinking had kicked up into overdrive. I was in trouble. I needed a way out. I needed a major distraction, something like a fire drill, or maybe an earthquake.

It took a lot of effort not to start breathing fast, and I was afraid my cheeks would turn bright red. I turned to the second page and then the third, barely reading, just stalling for time.

Finally I had to say something, so I said, "It looks like a list."

Mrs. Jensen said, "Turn to page five, Hiro, and read some of the entries out loud, but please keep your voice down."

I skipped ahead and started to read. "'STAR Test Internet Registration home page; Issues in light wave theory; JaneGoodall home page; Fuel cell technology comes of age; Hybrid vehicles find new homes; Cold fusion anomalies; Field Museum Egyptology Department; Richard Feynman's lecture on-'"

Mrs. Jensen interrupted and said, "Thank you, Hiro. That's enough. Can you tell me what you've been reading?"

"Something from the computer, right?" I looked into her face.

She wasn't buying my innocent act. Not even a little bit.

Mrs. Jensen shook her head. "It's more like something from your computer, Hiro. More precisely, that information is stored under your login account on the library's main server. When I began to back up the system yesterday afternoon, one computer was still active, the one in the corner. I went to shut it down, but something on the Internet browser caught my eye, something about the STAR tests. I didn't remember any teachers using that computer, so I checked the login name, and it was you, Hiro. You forgot to log out when you went to the meeting in Mrs. Harford's office. I know you might think I was prying, but it's part of my job to monitor the Internet activity of all student accounts. So I looked around a little."

Mrs. Jensen looked me right in the eye. She said, "What you're holding there are the first thirteen pages of a 159-page document that lists the Web pages you have visited or accessed since the beginning of this school year. Your files are using five gigabytes of storage space on the server. Do you know what that means, Hiro? I think you do, but I'll tell you anyway. It means that so far this school year you have gathered more information for access and retrieval than all the rest of the fourth- and fifth-grade students combined. Just glancing through the Web pages of the links you have in your hands there, it appears that you have done extensive research on alternative energy sources; you have been trading e-mails with a primate expert at the Jane Goodall Institute; you have keen interest in educational theory; and apparently you have been enrolled in a college-level astronomy course over the Internet at San Fransokyo Institute of Technology."

Again she paused. Then, speaking slowly, Mrs. Jensen said, "But the most interesting thing to me is the fact that you are the child who failed his basic Internet research project three weeks ago, and therefore got a D in library skills. So, Hiro. How should I be thinking about all this new information?"

Mrs. Jensen had me. I was trapped.

When an animal gets backed into a corner, zoologists say the animal will usually choose one of three instinctive responses. But I've never considered myself an animal. I wasn't going to fight, or run away, or play dead. This was not the time for instincts. I had to think myself out of this corner.

It's not a coincidence that cartoons show an idea as a light bulb. Because when an idea hits, it feels like someone has flipped a big switch.

And an idea blasted me, right there in front of Mrs. Jensen, instant light. Yes, I was certainly in a corner. But it wasn't a small corner, and I didn't really have to get out of it. There was plenty of room in the corner for someone to join me.

In fact, I decided that it actually might be good to have someone else in my corner.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **Iron Rose Writer -** The problem with school is that it only judges you on your "book smarts", what Hiro's good at, not anything else. A person could have great people skills but sucks at math or reading. Some people work as hard as the can, study until they can't stay awake, and still fail because they just see t aren't book smart. - **I know, that is defiantly the problem. It isn't fair. Schools shouldn't do that. But they do.**

 **firelass19 -** Dat squirel tho... that's so fudging cruel (doesn't help that I'm a vegetarian). But I see that symbolism (lol, the one thing I learned in English class XD)! Also, that Lucy... she's got a good eye :P - **I know. Doesn't exactly make me feel proud to be a human either. And Lucy does have a good eye.**

 **celrock -** Another good chapter and it's sweet of Lucy to offer to help Hero bring up his grades. Anyway, keep up the great writing, look forward to reading more of this when it's available! - **Thanks!**

 **Fluttershy127 -** Will thy ever find out his a genies? Looking forward to next chapter :-) - **I don't know, I guess you'll just have to wait and see. :)**

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 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Review!**


	10. Chapter 10: For Now

**For Now**

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I had seen Mrs. Jensen almost every school day since the beginning of first grade, more that seven hundred school days. A lot of those days I had spent more time in the same room with Mrs. Jensen than I had with my aunt. So I'd had plenty of time to form a clear opinion about her. And in my opinion, Mrs. Jensen was one of the best people in the whole school. I had never seen her lose her temper, and she always seemed fair and open-minded. Which makes sense, why would a narrow-minded person be a librarian?

And now Mrs. Jensen was standing in front of me, waiting. She wanted me to explain why a kid who got a bunch of Ds was exploring so many challenging subjects on the Internet.

One of the first things I learned at school was how to read a teacher's face. It's a school survival skill and all kids become experts at it. But as we stood there face-to-face in the library, me looking up, her looking down, I could not figure out what was going on behind Mrs. Jensen's greenish brown eyes.

So I started off cautiously. I said, "I like to read about a lot of things."

She smiled slightly. "I already know that much, Hiro. I want to know about your grades. It's perfectly clear to me that you are not a below-average student, or even an average student. Far from it. And you've been hiding that from me and everyone else at school." She paused with her head tilted as she figured out something else. Then she said, "And your aunt doesn't know how bright you are either, does she?" I shook my head. "So why have you been keeping this a secret?" she asked.

I told her the truth in the simplest way I could. I said, "I didn't want to be different all the time. I mean, I am different, and I know that. I just didn't want everyone else to treat me that way. Because it's not their business."

Mrs. Jensen nodded slowly. "I can understand that, I think. But why the low grades?"

I had to trust her. I had no choice. I said, "I did that on purpose. I'm trying to do something...about grades. Everyone makes way to big of a deal about them."

Mrs. Jensen's eyebrows scrunched together above her nose. She shook her head and said, "But why get Ds? How can that help?"

"Well," I said, "those Ds already have my teachers and my aunt and the principal thinking and talking about grades, right? And I hope they're going to think a lot more about grades. And tests, too. Because I've got sort of a...a plan." Then I looked her right in the eye and said, "Except if you tell on me, I don't think it will work."

No expression. "What are you trying to accomplish with this...plan?"

"Nothing bad," I said quickly. I almost started to tell about Liz, but I didn't. I didn't want anyone to think she was involved. So I said, "Most kids never talk about it, but a lot of the time bad grades make them feel dumb, and most of the time it's not true. And good grades can make other kids think they're better, and that's not true either. And then all the kids start competing and comparing. The smart kids feel smarter and better and get all stuck-up, and the regular kids feel stupid and like there's no way to ever catch up. And the people who are supposed to help kids, the parents and guardians and the teachers, they don't. They just add more pressure and keep making up more and more tests."

Mrs. Jensen's eyes flashed and she shook her head sharply. "But the teachers don't like all this testing either. And I was not happy when they made me start giving grades in library skills. That's not what the library is for. So don't think it's only the teachers. It's the school boards. And the state. And the federal government, too."

Then her pale cheeks colored, just a hint. Mrs. Jensen tried to hide it, but she was embarrassed by that outburst. She hadn't meant to show me what she was feeling.

But she had.

I pretended not to notice. I said, "Well, anyway, we have to have the tests and the grades, and of course the grades are going to be used to sort us into different levels in sixth grade, the smart kids and the dumb kids. And I don't like the way it's done and I want to try and change some things."

Mrs. Jensen said, "Isn't this dangerous? For you, I mean. Getting such bad grades?"

I said, "Maybe. But it's sort of like I have immunity. I'm smart, and I know I'm smart, and I know that when I have to prove I'm smart, I'll be able to. My grades won't matter so much, not like they do now for a lot of other kids. And even if I do get into some trouble, I don't care. I'm not doing this for fun. And I'm not doing this for myself." I paused, and then I said, "And I think I can do it without any help...at least, I hope so."

That was bait. And Mrs. Jensen knew I was fishing. And she went for the hook anyway.

"What sort of help do you think you might need?"

And I knew. I had been right about Mrs. Jensen. She was one of the good guys.

I smiled up into her face. "You'd do that? You'd help me?"

Mrs. Jensen said, "I didn't say that. But I can't see any school rules that you've broken. Your aunt would probably like to know that she's got a brilliant nephew living in her house, and I certainly think you should tell her. But that's between you and her." Her eyes searched my face. "I don't know if I could help you in any direct way. But there's nothing in my job description that requires me to report on every conversation I have with every student. So this can be between us. At least for now. Do you understand?"

I nodded. "Yes, and that's a big help...for now. Thanks, Mrs. Jensen."

She nodded and smiled at me, but just barely. Underneath that smile she was worried. I wasn't sure if she was worried for me or for herself.

Probably for both of us.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **firelass19 -** YESSSS! I mean, NOOOOO! Hiro's secret is out! Lol, I've actually been waiting for this to happen for a while because it just excites me :P But then, I support Hiro and I don't think this was a step in his plan. But dat Hiro is thinking... I really want to see how he makes her sit in the corner with him XD - **Well, you got what you wanted. His secret is out! XD**

 **celrock -** Wow, I sort of figured something might come about as a result of Hero's Internet activity, as I do recall him forgetting to log off of the computer the other day when attending that meeting with his teachers and aunt, but had no idea it would come down to this. I wonder what he's going to tell the librarian. Looking forward to the next chapter to find out! As always, keep up the great writing! - **I hope you liked this chapter! Thanks! Keep reading!**

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 **Well, that's it for this chapter. I'm going to spend all night working on my Danny Phantom story _Camp Scare_ but I can't promise a chapter on that because I like writing _loooooooooooooong_ chapters for that one. But we'll see.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Review!**


	11. Chapter 11: Mounted Under Glass

**Mounted Under Glass**

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"Hiro! Welcome!"

It was the beginning of fifth period. Mrs. Burke motioned me to a chair across from her at a square table. She seemed a little too happy, but I didn't mind. I was her big project for the afternoon, and I figured she must like her work.

Ruth Burke had two jobs. She was the guidance counselor for our school, but she was also the psychologist for the three elementary schools and the junior high school in San Fransokyo. Plaques and diplomas and certificates covered two walls of the office, all of them mounted under glass like some flat, colorless butterfly collection.

As my eyes jumped from rectangle to rectangle, suddenly I pictured myself pressed thin as paper, trapped in a frame on her wall, my nose jammed against a sheet of glass. And then I saw myself like specimen between two glass slides, with Mrs. Burke peering at me through a microscope. I pushed those thoughts away.

Ruth Burke's assistant was Tiffany Nath. She was the counselor when Mrs. Burke was out working at other schools. She sat at a desk about ten feet away from the table where I was sitting, but she was in a different room on the other side of a wall that was mostly one big window.

"So," Mrs. Burke said, "are you ready for some fun today?"

I nodded. "Sure, I guess so." But I still felt like a sheet of glass was pushing on my nose.

"Good," she said. "Then let's get going. I'd like to give you a test, but it's not like a regular classroom test. It's a test that'll help me and all your teachers understand the best way for you to learn, okay?"

I nodded and she kept talking. "We'll start with some questions. I'll read them out loud one at a time, and you can answer each one as best as you can. And I'll keep track of your answers on this sheet, okay?"

I nodded again and said, "Okay." I could see the sheet she was writing on. On the upper right-hand corner it said WISC III. I knew what that meant. Mrs. Burke was giving me an IQ test. On an IQ test you get a score, and then sometimes they divide your score by your age. Which is why IQ means Intelligence Quotient, because of the division. It's kind of complicated, and I had only read a little about IQ testing on the Internet.

And that's why I started to get worried about this test. The STAR test had been easy. I got an average score because I had been able to look up the scoring information on the Internet. That's why I knew how many to get right and how many to miss on each part.

This test was different. I had never seen it before.

Mrs. Burke didn't waste any time. First she asked me a bunch of questions, and I had to answer them out loud. And I had to group some things into categories, then do some math problems, then match a bunch of word definitions, then answer some more questions about what I'd do in different situations, and then I had to remember the order of some numbers and repeat them back to her. Then I looked at pictures and had to say what was missing, and I had to copy marks from one page to another, and then mess around with some colored blocks and some puzzles. The test went on and on, over a dozen different parts. It took almost two hours to finish.

And all the time I was worried. I didn't know how I was doing on this test, because I didn't want my score to be too high. Or too low, either.

All I could think of was to try to mess up on three questions out of every ten. That made sense to me. I figured that would keep my score about seventy percent, and that would be like a C, which would be normal. I kept watching Mrs. Burke's face for clues to see how I was doing, but it was like she had a mask on.

And then finally she said, "There. We're all done. That wasn't so bad, was it?"

I shook my head and said, "No. It was fine." Then I said, "When will I get to see my scores?"

"That will be up to your aunt, Hiro. On this kind of test we never give the scores to the student."

I couldn't believe it. I said, "You mean I have to take the test, but I don't get to see the score?"

She shrugged and smiled. "It's just the way it is with a test like this. You score is sort of like a tool, something for me and Mrs. Harford and your aunt to use. You really don't have to worry about it at all."

I felt myself getting angry, because I hate stuff like that. When grown-ups treat kids like they're stupid. Or like they can't be trusted. It's very annoying. Smart old Mrs. Burke could know my scores because she had all that paper hanging on her wall. But me, the kid who just beat his brains out for two hours, I wasn't allowed to know anything?

And then I said to myself, _But so what? Grown-ups run everything and it stinks and there's nothing kids can do about it because that's they way it's been and that's the way it's always going to be. Big news._

Then I caught myself.

I hate to catch myself thinking like that. That kind of attitude has a name. It's called being cynical. It comes from the Greek work for dog, _kunikos_. Because there was this bunch of losers in ancient Greece, sort of a club, called the Cynics. The Cynics had no respect for anything or anybody. Like a dog who chews up your best shoes and then wags his tail. Or makes a mess on your front lawn right while you're watching. The _kunikos_ doesn't care and it does what it wants to, and it assumes everyone else is the same way it is.

But I had caught myself. I didn't let myself be cynical. Because that's too easy. And because I knew better.

People like Mrs. Burke didn't do things because they were mean. Or cynical. They did things because most of the time they actually believed those were the right things to do. She thought it was bad for someone like me to know my own IQ score. And maybe she was right. If the score was low, then I might think I was stupid. And if the score was high, then I might think I was better than somebody else.

But then I asked myself, _How are these IQ scores different from grades? Or the STAR test scores? How come they don't hide all the grades and scores from kids? Teachers need to know the grades so they can figure out how to help kids do better and learn more, but why do kids need to know them? After all, those STAR test scores didn't help Liz. Not one bit._

Anyway, Mrs. Burke said good-bye and Tiffany Nath wrote me a pass to go to last period. And after two hours of thinking, gym class was wonderful because all during the fall we played soccer almost every day.

When I was three years old I saw a soccer game for the first time on the local Spanish TV channel, and I went nuts for it. I loved the way the camera showed almost the whole field at once. I could see the players plan and make plays. And I could see the math, too, the crossing lines as a striker sped up to meet a flying corner kick, and the angles as midfielders passed the ball so it was always just beyond a defender's toe. I saw angles again as players blocked passes and cut off shooters. Each shot on goal was a balance of velocity and trajectory. It was all math and physics in motion.

And soccer was such a mental game. The best players had the whole field and all the other players completely inside their heads. The field wasn't out there. It was all inside. And then, " _Gooooooooooool_!" Fantastic!

Ever since first grade the soccer field had been the only place where I really let myself loose. I had never had to hide anything out on the soccer field. I could be as smart and creative and talented as I wanted to, because nobody ever treats a gifted athlete like he's weird. And that's not true if you're a gifted student.

So during gym class it was me, four other boys, and six girls against another mixed team of eleven kids. And Liz was on my team. It was a good, quick game, and we won it four goals to three. I scored two of our four goals.

But the best part wasn't the winning or the praise from Mrs. Spurrier or the high fives from my teammates. I hadn't been trying to beat anyone or prove I was great.

For me the best part came when the game was tied at three all, and there was less than two minutes on the clock. With my legs and arms and lungs pumping away, I felt like I was a hundred feet above the field, calmly looking down. The need to think and analyze and plot and plan melted away. Ideas were the same as actions, and I didn't have to hold anything back. And when Liz sent me a perfect pass, I drove to the center, dribbled through three defenders, and then beat the goalie.

It was pure play, no questions, no worries, no walls, no frames hanging on nails, no sheets of glass trying to press me down flat.

For twenty-five minutes on that Tuesday afternoon, I was free.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **celrock -** Wow! Loved Hero's explanation to the librarian! also, what he said in a way is very true where the grading system comes from. I for one, am smart, not intellegent, just, smart, yet though, I'm a terrible test taker. Thus, I did horrible on my SAT's when I took them back when I was in high school because I'm not the best at test taking. Sadly though, they go by the results of the SAT test to prove that you're smart. So when I didn't get good marks on that, it only made me look like I'm dumb, which didn't make me feel all that good. But then I thought about it. I know I'm smart, and I don't believe I need to take some stupid test to prove it. And, I've been in college for over 10 years now, and done just fine, which proves that those dumb SAT tests mean absolutely nothing. Good work as always, and keep up the great writing! - **Way to prove those SAT tests wrong! I have to take them this year and I did terrible on the PSAT's and I just know it's going to be the same with the SAT's too. But I'll keep thinking I'm smart even if the tests say I'm not!**

 **firelass19 -** Hiro just... outsmarted a teacher. O. M. G. ... COOL! I can't believe the Librarian believed Hiro and trust him and... sigh, I wish I was as smart as Hiro XD - **Don't we all wish we were as smart as Hiro, firelass19. Don't we all. :P**

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 **This story now has a cover image! I made it on the Sims 4. It's cropped a little weird because Fan Fiction's photo editor sucks, but it is Hiro Hamada and Liz Gorboki from this story. Enjoy the image! :P**

 **Review!**


	12. Chapter 12: Intelligence

**Intelligence**

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On Wednesday morning at the end of homeroom, Mrs. Butterfield called me up to her desk.

"Hiro, Mrs. Jensen wants you to bring all your overdue books back to the library before noon."

I said, "But nothing's overdue."

Mrs. Butterfield said, "Well, you'll have to tell that to Mrs. Jensen."

And then I understood the message.

Mrs. Jensen didn't need to see me about overdue books. There was some other reason. And for the first time, it struck me how good it was to have someone else know the real me. And also how strange it felt to have someone else know that I wasn't...normal. Then I thought of a good tongue twister: No more normal Hiro, five times fast.

All that ran through my mind in less than a second, so I nodded to Mrs. Butterfield and said, "Okay. I'll go to the library right now," and I started to leave.

Then Mrs. Butterfield said, "Oh, another thing Hiro. I saw Mrs. Burke in the teacher's room this morning. She wants you to come in her office again this afternoon during fifth period." I was halfway out the door by then, so I just nodded and said, "Fifth period. Okay."

When I got to the library, Mrs. Jensen was busy checking out books for a third-grade class. But she caught my eye and motioned me over to the front desk.

"Here, Hiro," and she handed me a stack of student name cards. "Would you sort these alphabetically, please?"

I said, "Sure." There was another chair, but it was easier to sort the cards standing up.

About three minutes later all the third graders were gone, but Mrs. Jensen was still busy. Without taking her eyes off the computer screen, she said, "That test, the one you took yesterday with Mrs. Burke? What was that like?"

"Kind of fun," I said. "It was an IQ test. First time I've had a test like that."

Mrs. Jensen kept typing on her keyboard. "And how do you think you did?" she asked.

I said, "Well, I tried to get about three things wrong out of every ten. It was all I could figure out to do. I was trying to get about seventy percent right. You know, about average."

Mrs. Jensen said, "I see."

She started sorting through some papers, but her hands were all jerky and nervous. Then she stopped and looked me right in the eye. "I found something out this morning. The test you took was scaled for children up to sixteen and a half years old. Your score translated to and IQ of one hundred and seventeen, and that's above average."

I interrupted and said, "That's not exactly a big problem, is it? I mean, tests like this aren't always right, are they?"

Mrs. Jensen said, "There's more to it than that. One hundred and seventeen? That's what your IQ would have been if you were sixteen years old. But since you're only eleven, your score translates to a higher IQ. Much higher. According to that test, you have an IQ of one hundred and eighty-eight. That's way up near the top of the scale. And Mrs. Burke doesn't know what to think."

My legs felt a little weak. I sat down. "What...what else did Mrs. Burke say to you?"

Mrs. Jensen shook her head. "She didn't tell me anything at all. She hasn't talked about this to anyone but her assistant, Tiffany Nath. The only reason I know is because Tiffany's car is in the shop. We live near each other, so I drove her to school today. And she was bursting to tell someone. Mrs. Burke said your IQ contradicts your whole academic record, so she thinks the test must be wrong."

Mrs. Jensen stopped talking and pressed her lips together into a frown. She said, "I know I shouldn't be telling you this, Hiro. But I couldn't help it."

"I won't tell anyone you told me."

She smiled. "I know that, Hiro. That's not what I'm worried about. You're getting yourself into a tricky situation here. I don't want you to get...hurt. I don't want anyone to get hurt."

We were both quiet. The Mrs. Jensen said, "So what do you think you'll do?"

I shrugged and tried to smile a little. "I'll have to see what Mrs. Burke says. I have to go there again for fifth period."

Mrs. Jensen said, "She could be planning another test for today."

I stood up and said, "Well, I won't know until I get there. And right now I guess I'd better get to art class. May I have a pass?"

"Of course you may," she said. Then she gave me a big smile, a real one, and she said, "I don't think I would have been brave enough to try something like this when I was a girl, Hiro. Even now, I think I'm more worried than you are!"

I smiled back. "Don't be worried. Tests and grades don't matter that much, remember?"

Mrs. Jensen laughed and said, "That's right. I'm sure there's nothing to worry about."

She handed me the pass and I said, "Thanks, Mrs. Jensen."

And I didn't mean just for the pass. And she knew that.

And she said, "You're so welcome, Hiro."

* * *

 **Review Replies:**

 **IndiaMoore -** I'm loving this story so far, glad I found it! I look forward to more - **Thanks!**

* * *

 **I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has been reading this story! Thank you all.**

 **Chapter 11 was the halfway mark. We are halfway there.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Review!**


	13. Chapter 13: An Observation

**An Observation**

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It was Wednesday, so the smell of almost-spaghetti filled the cafeteria. I sat with my friend Joseph and five or six other boys. We ate at our regular table, right next to the one where Liz and her friends usually sat.

I'm not proud of this, but I've always been an eavesdropper. I've never gone out of my way to eavesdrop, except maybe once or twice. But if I happen to be close enough and if people happen to be talking loud enough, I always listen. If people want to keep secrets, they should learn how to whisper.

I probably wouldn't have listened to the kids sitting behind me, but I heard Destery Willows say, "Don't be such an idiot, no one will ever travel to the sun. It's a huge bunch of burning gas, stupid." We had been learning about the solar system in class, and I had been doing some research about the sun on my own. So when Destery said that, my ears perked up.

Then Liz said, "Still, I bet someone could go there one day. Like maybe if the sun gets cooler."

"Yeah," said Destery. "Or 'like maybe' if they can find someone as dumb as you to volunteer!"

And then all the other kids at the table started laughing.

I wanted to turn around and tackle that Destery Willows, knock him right onto the floor. He was one of the smartest boys in fifth grade and also my least favorite. Destery had been in our fourth-grade class, too, and he had gotten one of the highest scores on the STAR test. After he found out Liz's score, he teased her about it for a month, calling her names like "retard" and "brain-dead."

This year Destery was in the gifted program, and he loved coming back from his special classes so he could show off about what he had learned. Plus, he had already announced to anybody who would listen that his big brother and his dad and his grandfather had all gone to Harvard University, and that he was going to go there too. One kid like Destery can almost ruin a whole school year.

But one of the great things about Liz is that she keeps on trying. Even before the other kids had stopped laughing at her, he said, "But how about when all the gas is used up? The sun'll have to go out someday and then I bet someone could go there."

I didn't have to turn around to see the nasty smirk on Destery's face. I could hear it in his voice. "Nice try, _moron_. The sun's never going to burn out."

And the rest of the kids kept on laughing.

It was too much, hearing him treat Liz that way. A new fact burst into my mind: The only way to stop a kid like Destery is to overpower him. And something inside me snapped.

I whipped around on my lunch stool and I jabbed my pointer finger toward Destery's face and I said, "You are wrong, Destery! Wrong! The sun _will_ go out. The sun is using up its supply of hydrogen because the hydrogen atoms are being converted into helium atoms. And that atomic conversion is not the same as burning gas, which is what you just said, _moron_. And only seven tenths of one percent of the available hydrogen actually converts into heat energy, and the best estimate is that it will take another one hundred billion years for all the hydrogen to be used up. So at the end of one hundred billion years, the sun will, in fact, go out. So Liz is right. And more important than that, you are _WRONG_! So just stop acting like your the most brilliant person in the solar system and do everyone a big favor and shut up and eat the rest of that disgusting spaghetti!"

When my speech ended, I was the center of a circle of silence. All around me fork loads of food hung halfway between plates and open mouths. Straws were stuck between lips, but no one was drinking. Nothing moved except little cubes of red Jell-O wiggling in plastic bowls.

And all eyes were on me. And maybe Destery, too. But mostly me.

Joseph broke the spell. "Give it up for Hiro!" And he started chanting, "Hiro, Hiro, Hiro," and the other boys at my table started chanting too, and it went on for about ten seconds until Mr. Jonstone walked over and made everyone quiet down.

I felt terrible. I had never lost my temper in public before, and I had never used my intelligence that way either. Destery had deserved every word I had thrown into his face, but I had gone too far.

And what would Liz think. I had never seen her get mad, not once.

I had to get out of there. I stood up and grabbed my tray. But as I turned around, something caught my eye.

Someone was standing by the door to the playground, about ten feet from where I had been sitting, close enough to have heard every word I said.

It was Mrs. Burke.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **Strangled Creativity -** The plot thickens He's not going to be able to keep this up for much longer is he? - **I guess you'll just have to wait and see. :P**

 **IndiaMoore -** Great update, I had a suspicion Hiro would ace the test unintentionally. I look forward to seeing if he can scrape his way out of this one or if his secret is out - **Cool! Keep reading!**

 **That-Flying-Breadstick-Wizard -** Okay so what's up with this? cos I own this book. It's exactly the same except for a few name changes and the odd sentence variation. - **Okay, as I explained in chapter two to the person that said this was plagiarism, I am writing this as a fan fic, and its sort of like a crossover, except the characters from the actual book aren't in it. It's just like when people retell movies like Big Hero 6 word-for-word, but it's not considered plagiarism because it's a fan fiction. Plus, I need to write this because I'm writing a sequel that is one hundred percent original (well, a original as fan fiction can be) and these events need to be explained. And honestly, I don't think I changed the sentence variation too much. Anyway, thanks for reviewing your concerns! Hope I cleared things up!**

 **celrock -** Wow, I figured with it being an IQ test, Hero was going to score higher than average, and now, we see what he scored. Makes me curious as to what the next test will be when he goes to the school psychologist's office that day at fifth period. As always, keep up the great writing! So, we're at the halfway point? Cool! If the next eleven chapters are just as good as the first, then there's no doubt I'll enjoy the rest of the story! - **Thanks!**

 **firelass19 -** Trollllllllll! Hiro really should have studied IQ tests :P Let's see what they throw at him next XD I am really liking Mrs. Jensen. She's nice :P - **I'm glad you're enjoying! Thanks for reviewing!**

* * *

 **Okay, an important note. Let's just remember that this story line isn't exactly mine. I'm just borrowing it from Andrew Clements, the actual author of this book. I changed a few minor details, but I have to upload this because it's important for the sequel, otherwise you won't get it. I hope you guys don't hate me, and I'll completely understand if you don't want to read anymore because it's not my idea, but I just thought I'd like to remind you.**

 **Thanks!**

 **Review please! Or not. We'll see.**


	14. Chapter 14: Changes

**Changes**

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At the beginning of fifth period Mrs. Burke was waiting for me. No smiles this time, no pleasant chatter. She was sitting behind her desk, all business. She pointed at the chair across from her and said, "Please sit down."

Tiffany Nath was at her desk on the other side of the big window. She was trying to look busy, but I could tell she was tuned in like we were the final episode of her favorite TV show.

Mrs. Burke sat there for almost half a minute, studying my face. Then she said, "Can we talk honestly to each other, Hiro?"

"Sure," I said.

She leaned forward with her elbows on the desk. "I'd been planing to give you another test today. But fifteen minutes ago I observed you speaking to Destery Willows in the cafeteria. And now I don't think another test is really necessary. Do you?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

She raised her eyebrows. "Remember? We are talking honestly with each other, Hiro. I want to know if you think I need to give you another test today."

I said, "Depends on what you want to find out."

She smiled and said, "That's easy: I want to find out if the score you got on yesterday's test is accurate. What do you think? Was that an accurate score?"

I shook my head. "Probably not."

Mrs. Burke leaned further forward. "And why is that?"

I didn't answer. Everything was moving too fast. I needed time to think.

Mrs. Burke thought she already knew I was a genius. And she also thought that I knew that she knew. But she really didn't know anything, not for sure. So I thought, _Maybe I can bluff my way out of this. Maybe I can take another test and really mess it up. The Mrs. Burke couldn't prove anything, accept that she's a lousy test-giver. Or maybe I could..._

And then I stopped. I just stopped.

I was tired of it. I was tired of always holding back. I was tired of acting like I didn't understand things. I was tired of pretending to be average. It wasn't true.

Mrs. Burke repeated her question. "Why do you think yesterday's score wasn't accurate, Hiro?"

I looked her right in the eye. "Because the score is too low. Everything I missed, I missed on purpose."

Mrs. Burke's mind tried to process that, and I could see her trying to recalculate my IQ in her head. And she couldn't do it.

So I said, "The simplest way to estimate a more accurate score is to increase the raw score to the ninety-ninth percentile range and then adjust it for my age. Because I don't think I would have missed more than one or two questions on the whole test. Not if I had wanted to do my best."

Mrs. Burke thought about that for a second and said, "But why didn't you want to do your best?"

I didn't say anything, so she said, "And I don't understand about your report card, either. Can you tell me a little about that, about all the Ds?"

I didn't want to have this talk with Mrs. Burke. I knew what she wanted. She wanted to have a deep conversation with me. She wanted to work up a theory about me. And about my problem. Maybe try to link my behavior to some incident in my past. Like my parent's death. Or maybe it was Aunt Cass's fault. Or maybe I had deep hidden fears.

And I knew enough about psychology to know Mrs. Burke would never get it right. Because my reasons would be too simple. Not wanting to be pushed to "achieve" all the time was not some psychological problem I was having. It was an intelligent choice. And if I had been "working up to my potential," could I have been best friends with a regular kid like Liz? Fat chance.

I changed the subject. "Are you going to give me another test?"

She said, "No. I don't think so." Mrs. Burke paused and then said, "You know that I'm going to share my findings with Mrs. Harford, don't you?"

I nodded.

She said, "And you understand why I need to tell her about your scores?"

I said, "Sure. My aunt asked for the testing, and the school has to give them my scores, and it's Mrs. Harford's job to tell her."

Mrs. Burke nodded. "That's correct."

She paused again, waiting for me to keep talking. But I didn't.

So she said, "Is there anything you'd like to talk about, Hiro?"

I shook my head. "No thanks."

"Well," she said, "if something does come up, and if you think I might be a help, you can always find me, okay?"

I nodded and said, "Okay." And I smiled a little because I could tell Mrs. Burke just wanted to help.

A minute later I was walking through the empty hallways, headed for Mr. Lillie's room and the second half of science class. It was still the same day, and it was the same school with the same teachers and the same kids.

But something was different.

Me.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **firelass19 -** Duh! Duh! DUH! Mrs. Burke is in the HOUSE! Or school, or room... whatever! Quick! Hiro better start stuttering like an idiot XD - **Haha! :P**

 **Iron Rose Writer -** Oh no. What is Hiro going to do?! Can't wait for the next chapter. - **Hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **celrock -** I'll admit, I've never read the original book this fan fic is based off of, so as far as I'm concerned, nicely done! And come to think of it, TV shows do spoofs of books and movies all of the time, and there's no sweat. For example, the Rugrats episode, 'Regarding Stuie,' is a parody of the movie, 'Regarding Henry,' I believe is the name of it, where a man named Henry suffered from brain damage, and had to learn how to walk and eat all over again, just like Stu in that episode, reverted back into a baby, having to start all over again. And that episode is still seen around today, which says that if the producers of that movie had any beef with the Rugrats producers, no sweat if that episode hasn't been removed from rotation. The only people that seem to have an issue with Rugrats are the Go-goes, for the use of their song, 'Vacation' in the season 4 episode that has the same title, hince, why that episode has been excluded from Hulu, Amazon Instant Video, and never airs during the Teen Nick late night block known as The Splat, but is still available on the season 4 DVD, and its original video cassette release. So see? If a Nicktoon can get away with spoofing other books and movies, then you can do it here on Fan Fiction. And you're doing it for free, not for prophet, which makes it all the better. Anyway, I absolutely loved that chapter. Good job for Hero for standing up to that kid. Seriously, with what that kid had to say about the sun, I'll admit, I'm no rocket scientist, and even I knew the sun would eventually burn out someday. In fact, I saw a movie about stars starring Woopy Gulberg at the Natural Museum of History in New York City, and that fact about the sun was mentioned in that film. So, the school psychologist saw the whole thing, according to the end of the chapter. Makes me really curious now how their next session is going to go. This story is really awesome, and I'm looking forward to reading more if it's available! Just in case there's no chapter tomorrow, with it being Thanksgiving and all, not being available to post one, let me just say here and now that I hope you and your family, have a very Happy Thanksgiving. Anyway, keep up the great writing! - **I guess you're right. I remember those Rugrats episodes. And shows like Family Guy, American Dad, Bob's Burgers... They are always doing spoofs too. Like, literally, ALL THE TIME. So, thanks for making me feel more confident about this story! And thanks for wishing me a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving, too!**

 **Fluttershy127 -** oh no mrs. burke knows! this is so exiting, can't wait for the next chapter! -) - **Glad you like it!**

 **Guest (guest) -** No worries at all! Ideas come from all over its about how you make them unique to you that matters! And you've done awesome I love love love this! I'm so glaf Hiro finally has one person he can talk to, and Noo hiro that outburst, bum bum buuuum :) hehe lovely aptly just spectacular it always makes me smile reading it! - **Aw, thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy this story!**

* * *

 **Thank you all for your reviews and follows and favorites. They give me inspiration. I am almost done typing up this story so I should start on the sequel soon, but obviously you won't get that until this story's over.**

 **Thanks you all for giving me my confidence back in your reviews. I was really worried about this story being un-unique, but I know now (thanks to all of you) that it is, so thanks!**

 **As always, please review. Reviews inspire me!**


	15. Chapter 15: Partnership

**Partnership**

* * *

Mrs. Harford had called Aunt Cass right after school, so by dinnertime on Wednesday she and Tadashi knew everything that Mrs. Burke had discovered.

Our evening meal was a smorgasbord of emotions.

Aunt Cass didn't know whether to be mad at me for keeping this a secret, or to be thrilled that I was a genius and not some idiot who thought Ds had a pretty shape. She said, "Isn't this _exciting_? If we can get an admissions interview, and if Hiro does well on the entrance tests, I bet he could get into Connections Academy, maybe even a scholarship. And from there, who knows? My little nephew could end up at Princeton, or even Yale or Harvard!"

Tadashi smiled. "What a little genius. He could go to San Fransokyo Institute of Technology, maybe even get a full scholarship!" Tadashi was always trying to get me to be interested in that school, the one he was going to go to. But I wasn't really into technology. I mean, bot building seemed cool and I could never do that because I had to hide my interests, but I would mostly be into bot fighting, which is illegal. Well, betting on bot fighting, anyway. And Aunt Cass and Tadashi would flip if they caught me doing that.

I let everyone else do the talking during dinner. And I didn't volunteer anymore information about my report card. When Aunt Cass said, "I guess I understand a little better about those bad grades now," I just smiled and nodded.

Because that wasn't part of the deal. Yes, now they knew I wasn't an average kid, and they figured out that for years I had been getting average grades on purpose. But my reasons for getting those Ds, they didn't need to know about that.

I faced the fact that my plan was ruined. Everyone would be watching me now. All my teachers would know I was smart. And it probably wouldn't be long until the whole fifth grade would know about me too. School is no place to try to keep a secret.

After dinner I went to my room to read, and about eight o' clock Tadashi yelled upstairs in a teasing voice, "Hey Hiro, it's your _girlfriend_ on the phone."

I went downstairs and got the phone from Tadashi who ruffled my hair and then I went back into my, well Tadashi's and my, room.

"Hello?"

"Hi, Hiro." Liz didn't have to say her name because she was the only girl who ever called me. Then she said, "Girlfriend?"

I said, "Sorry. Tadashi's not winning any prizes for maturity this week."

Liz said, "Maturity? Well, how about you? That thing you did in the lunchroom today wasn't exactly cool either." She sounded mad.

I hadn't been ready for an attack and that's what it felt like. I said, "But...but I couldn't stand it. You heard Destery, he was being awful. And...and I had to make him stop."

Liz said, "But he wasn't talking to you, Hiro. He wasn't even sitting at your table. It was none of your business. I don't need anybody to take care of me."

I said, "But if someone was attacking me and making everybody laugh at me, wouldn't you help me? If you could? Wouldn't you?"

That stopped her. She said, "I...I guess so." Then she thought a little and said, "But it wasn't like that, Hiro. We were just talking. And I'm not afraid of being laughed at. And besides, everybody knows that Destery's a stupid creep. Nobody takes him seriously. All you did was make yourself look like a fool."

It hurt when Liz said that. I didn't say anything.

"Hiro?"

I didn't answer.

Liz blew a big breath out through her mouth. Then she said, "Listen, I'm sorry I called you a fool, okay? I'm sorry...okay? And what you said to Destery? It was pretty great." Then Liz paused a few seconds and said, "Actually, I wish I could have said all that."

I waited another second or two. "Honest?" I asked.

She said, "Honest. And how did you know all that extra stuff about the sun and everything?"

A new fact was staring me in the face: I knew I would never have a better chance than this moment to tell Liz the truth, the facts of me. And I also knew that if Liz didn't hear the truth directly from me, it would be bad.

So I said, "That stuff about the sun? I...I did some extra reading. It's sort of complicated. But listen...I've got to explain something, something important."

I told Liz everything. About how I learned to read when I was two and a half, and the way I had only pretended to learn how to read when we were in first grade. I told her how I kept all my test scores lower, and how even my own family hadn't know how smart I was. I explained the way I missed questions on the STAR test on purpose. I told her how Mrs. Jensen had found my computer files and then kept my secret. And I even told her about Mrs. Burke and the IQ test.

When I was done, Liz was quiet. Then she said, "So how smart are you?"

"Well," I said, "Mrs. Burke thinks I'm a genius."

"Are you? Are you a _genius_?"

I could hear it in Liz's voice. What I'd always been afraid of. Liz was already starting to think I was weird. Weird Hiro, the genius boy.

And I knew the next couple of sentences would be important.

I said, "I guess I am. But so what? So what if I'm a genius? I'm still me, Liz. It's not like I'm any different."

"Yeah? Well, what about at lunch today?" she asked. "That was pretty different."

"Okay. Yeah, that was kind of different. But if I hadn't just told you everything else, would you have started to think I had turned into this totally different person or something? I'm still me. No matter what, I'm still me."

There was only the hum of the open phone line. Then Liz said, "But...but it's like you've been a spy...for years. Like you've been this genius secret agent, spying on all the regular kids. And all those Ds on your report card? I was really worried about you, and all the time you were just goofing around!"

"No!" I said. "That's the thing, Liz, I wasn't goofing around. I got those Ds on purpose. Because I got mad about the way everyone makes such a big deal about grades. And test scores, too. I had a plan. And now it's completely ruined and I'm in all kinds of trouble. So how much of a genius could I really be?"

Liz said, "You had a plan? What kind of a plan?"

"It's all messed up now," I said. "But...I just wanted to show everybody that bad grades don't mean a kid isn't smart, and that good grades don't always mean a kid is so smart either. And I thought the teachers liked giving all the tests and grades and everything. But Mrs. Jensen told me that that's not really true. A lot of teachers don't like all the competition and the testing, especially the STAR tests. Like I said, my plan was lousy from the start."

Again the only sound was the hiss of the telephone. Then Liz began talking, slowly at first and then faster. She said, "Everybody's going to find out now, right? They're going to know that you're really smart, aren't they?"

"Yeah," I said, "I guess so."

"Like all our teachers will know, and Mrs. Harford? And the kids, too, everybody, right?

I said, "Yeah. Everybody."

"Listen! Everybody's going to know you're this genius now, so everyone thinks your going to be that way, super smart, right? And they're all gonna think that now you'll get great grades and do the gifted program and stuff, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "Probably. Especially my aunt."

Liz could barely get the words out, she was talking so fast. She said, "So that's what everyone's going to expect now, right? This super-super smart kid. But what if you don't do that? What if you don't do what everybody expects, like...like you break the regular rules about being smart? And you start playing by different rules, your rules!" She paused waiting for my reaction. But she couldn't wait. "See what I mean?" she asked. "Do you get it?"

Liz's idea wasn't like a light bulb turning on, it was like a blast from a laser cannon. I almost shouted, "Liz! That's a fantastic idea! You're...you're a genius!"

Liz and I kept talking, and in just ten minutes a new plan was born. A better plan. An amazing plan.

Something else happened as we talked, something that made those ten minutes the best ten minutes of my life. Because during those ten minutes our friendship changed. Completely. Our friendship became a partnership, an equal partnership.

The new plan involved some risks, for me, and for Liz, too. But I didn't care about the risks. And neither did Liz.

We were in it together.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **firelass19 -** Damn Hiro, way to throw that truth bomb! I'm sure Mrs. Burke was thrown for a loop with that hit :P I honestly don't know if people are going to be happy that Hiro is a genius... let's see how this goes :) Thank you for the amazing chappie! :D - **You're welcome! Keep reading!**

 **Guest (guest) -** Yaaaay secrets out! Time to shine hiro! Though I'm a little worried on what will happen with him and lizzy...ah well. Hehe so excited! I can't decide if I like mrs Burke or not but she is necessary sooo...ehehehe really I'm sitting here laughing I love this story so much thanks for posting it always makes me so happy reading and just forgetting everything else - **I hope you liked this chapter! I'm glad I can make people happy with my stories. It makes me happy. Keep reading!**

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 **I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! And I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Review!**


	16. Chapter 16: Phase One

**Phase One**

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I read on the Internet about this famous experiment that two guys did way back in 1964. They gave a test to some kids at a place called the Oak Elementary School. After the test they said the results showed that a portion of the kids were going to make fantastic progress during the school year. They called those special kids the "bloomers."

Then, they gave the teachers lists of all the bloomers so that the teachers could watch the certain kids change during the year. And the kids did. The kids on the bloomer lists all made amazing progress, real progress.

And here's the best part: The information was fake. The names of the special kids, the bloomers? Those names were picked out of a hat. The only thing that wasn't fake was the expectation of the teachers. The teachers actually expected certain kids to make progress, and that expectation was real, and the results at the end of the year were real too. The "bloomers" all made huge progress. All because of the expectations. Because expectations can be powerful.

And by Thursday morning almost every fifth grader and all my teachers were expecting to see the new and improved Hiro Hamada, boy genius.

Getting the news about me to the kids had been Liz's job. It hadn't been hard. San Fransokyo Elementary School had a gossip grapevine, and Jared DeVille was the chief grape. One whispered phone call to Jared on Sunday night was as good as a live press conference on CNN.

Mrs. Harford had taken care of getting the news to all my teachers. I saw the principal's memo on Mrs. Butterfield's desk during homeroom. It said, "After testing and observation, Ruth Burke has determined that Hiro Hamada is a profoundly gifted child. He has apparently been keeping this to himself for quite some time."

So everyone was expecting to see a genius. Which was fine. Liz and I were ready for that. On Thursday I was going to live up to everyone's expectations. And maybe create some new ones.

In language arts class we were studying reading strategies like scanning and pre-reading and predicting. Mrs. Butterfield passed out a three-page story and we had to leave the sheets face down on our desks. Then she said, "When I tell you to begin, I want all of you to turn the sheets over, and you will have fifteen seconds to scan the story. Then we will turn the pages face down again and talk about predicting what the whole story might be about from what you've been able to scan. So is everyone ready?...Begin scanning."

Fifteen seconds later Mrs. Butterfield told us to turn the sheets over, and she said, "All right, now based on what you saw in your scan, who can predict what happens in this story?"

When I raised my hand, the other kids who had their hands up put them down. They wanted to hear what the genius had to say.

I was the only person with my hand in the air, so Mrs. Butterfield said, "Hiro, what do you think this story's about?"

I took a deep breath and said, "This story's about a girl who lived during the Great Depression, and she needed to earn money so she could buy a birthday present for her father. Her mother had died the year before, and she knew her dad was so sad about it that he was almost ready to give up. There were no real jobs, but the girl finds this shopkeeper who says he'll pay her ten cents every afternoon to sweep the sidewalk in front of his store. Some of her friends from school see her working and they make fun of her, but she doesn't care. She keeps working, but time is running out and she can't earn enough money. She tells her best friend and the friend tells the other kids at school. The day before her dad's birthday, all the other kids chip in enough so she can buy the present. It's a little silver frame for her dad's favorite photograph of her mom. Her dad has been so sad, but when he sees how much his daughter loves him, his whole outlook changes and he sees that he has a lot to be glad about and so much to live for. And I think this is a story about how hard work and love and unselfishness can change a person's life."

Mrs. Butterfield didn't know what to say. I had just told her exactly what happened in the story, because during that fifteen seconds I had read all three pages. I've always been able to read that way. I sort of see a whole page as one or two big blocks of words.

Mrs. Butterfield said, "That's very good, Hiro. But was that really predicting? Didn't you just give us a summary of the whole story?"

I nodded my head in agreement. "Yes. What I said was more like reviewing. When you know for certain what's already happened, you can't actually predict about it anymore. Because that's an epistemological impossibility. Prediction has to include the idea of uncertainty, like a theory in scientific analysis, or an educated guess based on heuristic evidence."

Mrs. Butterfield nodded slowly and said, "Um...yes. Well, class, let's move on and see if we can spot some of the clue words on the first page of the story. Remember, we're looking for words that will help us make some predictions."

I could feel everyone in the class staring at me. Showing off and using some big words like that made me feel uncomfortable. Then I took a quick glance over at Liz, and she had this big, proud grin on her face. And instantly I felt perfectly at ease.

The class moved ahead, slowly picking out clue words. Mrs. Butterfield didn't call on me again during the rest of the period.

I was obnoxious all day long. In every class I found a way to put on my genius show. During art I got going with Mr. Rawlison about spectroscopic analysis and the different wavelengths of the primary and tertiary colors, and in social studies I had quite a lot to say about the effects of an unregulated financial market on the Great Depression.

In math class Mr. Lillie and I had a ten-minute discussion about the best way to design a statistical analysis to try to discover the percentage of kids who would never need to use the process of deriving the lowest common denominator once they left elementary school.

In music, when Mrs. Young said that the musical scale is made up of eight notes, I was able to point out that that's true only if you are talking about the traditional Western diatonic scale, because there are also scales like the pentatonic scale and the twelve-tone scale. And then that led naturally into a brief discussion of the use of different modal scales like the Mixolydian or the Dorian mode as the basis for musical composition.

Gym class was a challenge because it's not easy to get a conversation going with Mrs. Spurrier. Still, I managed to offer some general comments about the structure of the inner ear and the way it affects balance and coordination.

Science was my best performance of the day. Mr. Lillie was explaining about the speed of light. He said, "Since the sun is 93 million miles away, and since light travels at 186,000 miles per second, if the sun went out right now, we would still have another seven minutes of sunlight. The light traveling from the sun to the earth takes seven minutes to pass through that much space." Which was interesting and quite true. But then he said, "Nothing travels faster than light." And an idea popped into my mind.

I raised my hand, and when Mr. Lillie nodded at me, I said, "But what about thought? If you say the word 'sun,' my thought can travel all the way across that 93 million miles to the sun and all the way back again in about one second. So since there are 420 seconds in seven minutes, doesn't that mean that thought actually travels 840 times faster than light?"

Mr. Lillie made a strange face as he tried to get his mind around that idea. Then he shook his head. He said, "But thought isn't like light. Light is real. You can see it. You can't see thought."

I said, "Are you saying that a light wave or a light particle is more real than a thought is?"

"Mr. Lillie said, "Well...no, not exactly."

And I said, "So are you saying that my thought can't travel that far that fast? How about if I say 'Alpha Centauri'? See? My thought has already traveled out into space, all the way to that star and all the way back again. And light would take almost nine years to make a round trip to Alpha Centauri. Unless you can prove that my thought didn't just go all the way there and back, then I'm sticking with my theory: Thought travels at least 840 times faster than light." And all around the room, kids were nodding their heads, agreeing with me.

Now, if Mr. Lillie had said, "Nothing material travels faster than light," then he would have had me, and we could have talked for a while about the difference between physics and metaphysics. But he didn't take his thinking that far.

Like I said, I was obnoxious all day Thursday. A real know-it-all.

When I went to the library after school, Mrs. Jensen smiled and nodded at me when I came in, but instead of motioning me to come and talk, she quickly turned away to do some other work. Which was probably the smart thing to do. She had apparently decided to keep clear of me for a while.

Liz came in a little after I did and sat at the opposite end of my study table.

"Well?" I whispered. "Was I horrible enough?"

She grinned at me. "You were fantastically _awful_! Every kid is talking about you. And probably all the teachers, too. I bet they're in the teachers' room right now, swapping Hiro stories. It was a perfect setup! Perfect!"

Because that was the idea. Thursday was the setup day, the day to build up some expectations. Then we had some important events on Friday. And the big payoff would come on Monday. And probably Tuesday, too.

Our plan was in motion.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **firelass19 -** YESSS! Liz is in the HOUSE! I tots want to see what this new plan is! :) - **Yep! I hope you like it so far! Keep reading!**

 **DayosCain -** I'm loving the series so far! Hire hiding his smarts from everyone 'till recently, an interesting plot if I say so myself. It's so cool that you wanted Hiro to do this in the first place :P. Chapters are fairly short, but this is easily rectified with the efficiency of new chapters coming out at a really fast pace. Here. *gives a cookie*. *thumbs up* Keep up the good work man. - ***takes cookie* Thanks!**

 **Iron Rose Writer -** I'm so glad that Hiro finally told Liz. And I love the change in their relationship. Good chapter. - **Thanks!**

 **Guest (guest) -** Hmmmmm...maybe Liz is sneaky too and wants Hiro to fail so she doesnt look bad...probably reading too much into that :) haha anyways thank you for the update! Awesome break from homework - **Haha! Thanks for reading! I'm glad to be someone's awesome break from homework! :P**

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 **I would like to remind everybody that I do not own this plot. It belongs to Andrew Clements. Just putting that in there so people will stop telling me I'm plagiarizing.**

 **Thank you all for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and following this story.**

 **Keep reading!**

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	17. Chapter 17: Hard Test

**Hard Test**

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Friday's important events went perfectly. Liz and I were all set for the next steps on Monday or Tuesday. But once again I learned that things don't always happen according to plan. Because Friday after school, as I sat in the library doing my outside reading, Mrs. Harford came marching up to my table and said, "Hiro? Please follow me."

The principal turned around and marched out of the library, across the hall, and into her office. I barely had time to glance at Liz, and she gave me a quick thumbs-up as I hurried after Mrs. Harford. We hadn't thought this part of our plan would begin until after the weekend.

Mrs. Harford stood behind her desk and said, "Please sit down, Hiro." When I was in the chair across from her, she held up three pieces of paper and said, "I want to know something and I want to know it right now. _This_ is your spelling test from this morning. And you got a zero on it. _This_ is your math test from fourth period. And you got a zero. And _this_ is your science test from two hours ago. Another zero. Three tests and you got a zero on each one. I want to know the meaning of this. We all know you are a brilliant child, Hiro. And the only possible conclusion is is that you have gotten these zeroes on purpose. And I demand to know why. Right _now_. Out with it. Why did you get these zeroes?"

I had told Liz I would be brave when our plan started to heat things up. And now I was having the hardest test of the day, the angry-grown-up-shaking-papers-in-my-face test.

Mrs. Harford repeated the question. "Why did you get _zeroes_ on these tests?"

I had been rehearsing my answer to that one. I said, "I got zeroes because I got all the answers wrong."

Mrs. Harford's face bunched up until her eyes were little slits below her eyebrows. Then she found her voice and it wasn't pretty. "Don't you _dare_ be smart with me, young man! Why did you deliberately get every question wrong on these tests? _Tell me_!"

I looked her right in the eye and said, "Because all three of these tests are nothing but simple memorization, same as almost all the other tests we take. So I decided to express my opinion about this kind of testing. These tests each got the score they deserved. Zero."

This was a tricky moment. Because if Mrs. Harford just kept getting madder and madder, I could get suspended. Or even expelled from school.

I was hoping something else would happen. And it did. Because Mrs. Harford wasn't just a shouter, and she wasn't just some lady with an office. She was mad, but she was still a teacher. The top teacher of the whole school. She was in charge of the learning program for every grade, and I had just thrown down a challenge.

Mrs. Harford glared at me for a few seconds, and then she sat down in her chair and began to look at the tests.

About a minute later, in a much calmer voice she said, "I see what you mean, and it's true that these tests all require students to memorize a lot of information. But knowing basic information is important. It's like the foundation. You get bored with this kind of test because you've been trying to pretend you're average, and you're not. This kind of test is fine for most of the kids. You need to be in the gifted program, Hiro. In the gifted program you'd have lots of creative challenges. That's what you need. I've already talked to your aunt, and I have recommended that you start that program as soon as possible. Maybe you should even skip ahead into sixth grade. Or even _eighth_."

I could tell Mrs. Harford liked that skipping-grades idea. Even skipping to sixth grade would move me right out of her school. It was the instant solution: no more Hiro.

But I shook my head. "What about all the other kids? I get to go and do creative and exciting things, and all the other kids get worksheets and memorization and the same old stuff, week after week. That's not fair."

Mrs. Harford was still the principal, and she was not going to sit around and argue with a fifth grader.

So she stood up and said, "You may go back to the library now. I'm sorry I lost my temper, but you have upset all your teachers. A gift like yours comes with responsibilities, Hiro. I want you to think about that. You have responsibilities. You may go now. But this matter is not over."

As I walked back into the library, I obeyed Mrs. Harford: I thought about what she had just said, how a gift like mine comes with responsibilities.

Mrs. Harford was absolutely right. I did have responsibilities. Except she and I had different ideas about what those responsibilities were.

And Mrs. Harford was absolutely right about something else, too: This matter was _not_ over.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **Fluttershy127 -** Liz and Hiro are so sneeky, can't wait to see what they have planed! - **I hope you liked what they had planned so far, and there's more to come. Keep reading!**

 **firelass19 -** Important events, huh? It sounds wonderfully awful XD - **The awfullest! :P**

 **Guest (guest) -** You are awesome, bumpbubumpbubump (to the tune of the farmers insurance jingle :D) and also, you rock! This story is so great and definitely no worries about you feeling like this isn't an "original" story, you have made it so fun and uniquely your own it's totally different! And besides, you gave credit where you felt it was due and thats all there is to it! Done! Sources cited now let your own flare and touches show, just like you've already done so much of! Really, this is so amazingly written with perfect detail and dialogue it's unreal! - **Thanks so much! I'm so glad that you like it. I was really worried about it being like** **plagiarism and everything, but I can see now that I gave credit, so I should be fine. So, thanks! Keep reading!**

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 **I'm really glad that everyone is enjoying this story. Let's see, this is the seventeenth chapter, so there are five chapters left. So let's do this!**

 **Thanks, as always, for reading.**

 **Review!**


	18. Chapter 18: Logic

**Logic**

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When I got back to my table in the library, Liz pounced on me. "What happened? What'd she say? Are you in trouble?"

"Not too much," I said. "But she got pretty mad. And she wants to put me in the gifted program right away."

"What else?" she asked. "What about the tests and everything?"

I shook my head. "I'll tell you all about it on the bus, okay? I need to finish this reading."

That wasn't exactly true. What I really needed was time to think. Because I could see where all this was going, but I couldn't tell where it would end. The plan Liz and I had made had sounded good when we were talking about it, and it had been kind of fun to be a show-off genius one day and then get three zeroes the next.

But something Mrs. Harford had said really got me. She'd said, "...you have upset all your teachers."

And that got me thinking. If they were all upset now, how were they going to feel if we really got the school stirred up? Because that was probably going to happen. Our plan was to get as many kids as we could to start getting zeroes. Tests, quizzes, homework, zeroes on everything. I was just the leader, the test case.

Liz was pretty sure that Jadelyn, Josephine, Erica, and Erin would go along, and she thought she could sell the idea to her little brother and some of his friends in fourth grade, too. I thought if I explained everything just right, a bunch of the boys would join in and even some more of the girls, too. And that would get a whole gang of parents involved, because all of our parents were worried about grades all the time. I mean most of our parents were already worrying about which _colleges_ we would get into. So if a lot of kids started getting zeroes on everything, it would be a big deal. The story would probably get into the newspaper. And it would get onto local TV for sure, because all the school meetings were broadcast on cable. So pretty soon the whole city would know about all the bad grades.

But Liz and I weren't planning to stop with zeroes on some tests and quizzes. Because once people started paying attention, we were going to tell everyone that we wanted all the kids in San Fransokyo to get zeroes on the STAR tests, too. If all the schools in San Fransokyo suddenly got rotten scores on the STAR test, that would be major news, because if the schools get bad STAR test scores, then the whole city gets a bad reputation. Liz's mom's a Realtor, and I've heard her say that if a city gets bad scores, then fewer people want to buy houses there. Bad scores mean the principals and the teachers get in trouble, and then the state board of education gets involved, and on and on and on.

Because those STAR test scores are a huge deal. And since the kids are the ones who actually sit down and take the tests, the kids control the scores. That meant that the kids had all this power that they didn't even know about.

Liz and I were ready to change that. It was going to be like when all the teachers organized a strike and stopped working until they got paid more money. We were going to organize a kids' strike, a strike against grades and tests and pressure and bad competition.

As I sat there thinking, I could see it all happening, step by step. In three or four weeks our whole school would be turned upside down. Kids would be getting zeroes on tests. Teachers would be mad at the kids. Parents would be mad at their kids and the teachers and the principal. And the school board would be mad at everybody.

And they would all be mad at me. And at Liz.

So that's why I needed to stop and think.

I looked around the library.

At the next table Jaclyn Hillberry was reading a teen romance book. She wasn't worried about her grades. She was wondering whether Danny would ever ask Sam to the big dance.

Behind me two fourth-grade boys were arguing about the best way to display their project at the science fair. They were laughing and goofing around, and they were learning, too, but they didn't even know it. And they weren't competing or thinking about grades.

Over in the corner near the magazine rack three girls were flopped on beanbag chairs, their heads close together, giggling about something. School was a fun place for them. Any pressure? Not today.

At the other end of my table Liz was chewing on the end of her pencil and making faces at her math homework. Was Liz unhappy about school? No. Did she actually believe she was dumb, like, permanently stupid? No.

And why had Liz gotten involved with a crazy plan that might shake up the whole city of San Fransokyo? Did she do it because she had a deep desire to change education in the state of California? No. She did it for me. Plus, it sounded like an adventure with a little danger and excitement.

Next fall, when it was time for all the teachers to get the kids cranked up for the STAR test again, would all the kids get stressed out for a month or so? Yes, absolutely. But then the testing would be over and all the kids would get on with their lives. They would laugh and talk with their friends, they would do their homework, their teachers would teach them, they would take their tests and quizzes, and the time would go by. Then they would move on the the next grade, and the next, and the next.

Fact: I was the only kid in the whole school worrying this way about grades and tests and competition. All the other kids were being normal. And I had to face that fact, too: I was not a normal kid. I had "a gift." That's what Mrs. Harford had called it. Some gift.

I got up and started walking toward the circulation desk. Mrs. Jensen saw me coming and she didn't look too happy about it. But I needed to talk.

I said, "Hi, Mrs. Jensen."

Mrs. Jensen smiled. "Hello, Hiro. You look a little down. Hard day?"

I nodded and said, "Yeah. Did you hear anything?"

"Oh yes, it was headline news: 'Star Student Bombs Three Tests.' Pretty dramatic." She looked into my face and said, "Is everything working out the way you wanted it to?"

"Umm...I don't know." And I felt like such a baby because I could feel tears at the corners of my eyes.

Mrs. Jensen pretended not to notice. She looked down at her keyboard and then at the screen in front of her. She said, "I've been wondering about something, Hiro. I hope you don't think I'm being nosy, but I'm very curious. It's a simple question: Why do you think you're so smart?"

I took a swipe at my eyes and gave a shrug. "Genetics, I guess. That's what they say if you get a supercharged mind."

Mrs. Jensen shook her head. "I don't mean where did the intelligence come from. I mean why do you think you have it?" She paused a second and then said, "Think of it this way: Do you believe things happen for a reason?"

I said, "Yes...at least I think that's true."

Mrs. Jensen said, "So, if things do happen for a reason, then there must be a reason that you've been given so much intelligence, right?" I nodded, and she said, "So that's what I'm asking, why do you think you're so smart?"

I've always felt like I could understand things instantly. Whenever a question came along, all I had to do was think, and zip! An answer was right there. No busy signal. No waiting.

This question was different. I was thinking hard, but I got nothing. I said, "I don't know. I have no idea why I'm this smart. And...and if I don't know the answer...then maybe I'm not as bright as I think I am. Is that it? Is that what you mean?"

Mrs. Jensen smiled again and shook her head. "I'm not saying that. I think you're every bit as intelligent as the evidence suggests, and then some. It's just that I've met all kinds of kids with amazing talents. And for me the big question has always been: Why? And then, usually much later, I begin to learn the answer. I get to see what they do with their lives. It's interesting, don't you think?"

I nodded.

Mrs. Jensen said, "So tell me what comes next for you, Hiro. You certainly have gotten everyone's attention. What's next?"

Yesterday I would have been able to answer that question. I'd have said, "Just you wait! Liz and me? We've got big plans. Watch out for lots of action and all sorts of fireworks and plenty of loud noises!"

But I didn't feel that way anymore. So I said, "I'm not sure. There are too many variables. Everything's kind of weird now."

"Hmm." Mrs. Jensen said, "I wish I could tell you what to do, Hiro. But I can't. I can tell you this, though. Of all the possible things we can do at any moment, one is usually better than the rest. So that's the one to look out for. All you ever have to do is the next good thing. Make sense?"

I smiled and said, "Very logical. Sounds like something a librarian would say."

That got a laugh out of her. Mrs. Jensen said, "Well, I think it's true, all the same. I know you can figure this out. And I'll be watching to see how you do."

I said, "That'll make two of us. Plus every other kid and teacher in this school."

The speaker below the clock let out a long bell tone.

I said. "See you Monday, Mrs. Jensen."

And she said, "Have a nice weekend, Hiro."

I went back to my table and got my things ready for the bus ride home.

Mrs. Jensen hadn't given me any answers, and she hadn't solved any of my problems. In fact, now I had more questions than before I'd talked to her. Even so, I felt better.

Which wasn't logical.

Because the fact is, logic only works up to a certain point. Beyond that point. It takes a different kind of thinking. More like listening. And watching.

That was what I needed to do. I needed to listen and watch.

I needed to be on the lookout for that next good thing.

And if I spotted the next good thing, then would come the hard part. Because then I'd have to do it.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **firelass19** -One of my teachers used to call zeroes eggs - big, fat goose eggs. I thought it was funny, she thought it was demoralizing. Way to motivate a kid, teacher. Sorry, that was totally random and unrelated. But that line about responsibilities totally reminded me about Spider Man! Hiro's a hero; he knows what he got to do :P - **Because everyone loves a little 'Hiro'. Hiro is definitely a hero. :P**

 **celrock (chapter 16) -** Wow! I must say, Hero was pretty amazing with the facts and theories he presented in his classes that day. Makes me wonder what's going to happen next! As always, keep up the great writing! And sorry for my late review. Somehow, my services for cable TV, home phone, and Internet got turned off via the master switch in my apartment building late on Friday night, and I didn't get my services back until today. All I have to say to that is, the nerve! Hopefully, it never happens again. - **That sucks. I hope it never happens again either. I can only imagine... *shudders***

 **celrock -** Wow! Just, wow! I loved this chapter! First of all, Mrs. Harper has figured out that Hero failed these tests on purpose, and Hero wasn't scared to admit it, or if anything, he admitted to her that it's what he did. I do agree with his teacher, he should be in a gifted program, or in a higher grade, where he's more so challenged, and at an accodemic level where he's learning stuff that he'd find interesting, rather than being bored with the corriculum that is being presented by his fifth grade class. I hope Hero gets placed where he belongs, and I look forward to reading more of this, when it's available! - **Hiro definitely belongs in the gifted program or a higher grade. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!**

 **BelieverofManyThings -** Fantastic chapter:) - **Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well!**

 **Guest (guest) (chapter 4) -** Ah aha is used to sleep at the table like that too whenever my parents wouldn't let me leave! Although for me it was usually refusing to eat gross foods not bad grades... - **So did I, for the same reason. I usually never had a bad report card. I hope you enjoyed!**

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 **I have decided to post another Andrew Clements story on my account. I'm writing it the same way as this one where I'm changing it up so it suits the characters in the fandom (Danny Phantom) and then when I finish with the story, I'm writing my own, original sequel! If you would like to read it, it is on my account. It is called No Talking and the fandom that it is in is Danny Phantom.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Review!**


	19. Chapter 19: Too Much

**Too Much**

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When Aunt Cass came home late Friday afternoon, she was hugging a stack of papers.

She laid everything out on the kitchen table. "See?" she said. "Look at this, Hiro. The admissions counselor over at Connections Academy, Mr. McDonald? Such a nice man. He was very happy to meet with me. And you should have seen his face when I told him about your IQ test. He thinks you might be able to begin as an _eighth grader_ next fall, so we have an interview scheduled for next Tuesday, right after school. Isn't that exciting? Look at the brochure...here. That's the new library. That whole building was a gift from _one person_. Lots of money at a school like Connections. And look at this list. These are the colleges that Connections Academy graduates got into last fall. I couldn't believe it. Almost one third of the class went to Ivy League schools! Isn't that fantastic? And look what Mr. McDonald gave me, it's a Connections Academy sticker for the back window of my car."

Aunt Cass was making plans and spinning out dreams faster than they make burgers over at McDonald's. Fact: Keeping my intelligence a secret for the past five years had been one of the best decisions of my whole life.

But now my aunt was trying to make up for lost time. She was going to set up a thousand hoops so her little baby-nephew genius could jump through all of them, one after another.

Aunt Cass turned away to fill a pan with water and put it on the stove. Then she said, "Oh, I almost forgot. Mrs. Harford called today. She wants to move you into the gifted program as soon as possible. She said something about you being bored with your classes, which I can understand completely. So we're going to have a meeting about the gifted program on Monday. Isn't it wonderful? Everything is falling into place so perfectly!"

I wanted to scream. I wanted to shout, _Have you lost your mind? Did you stop for one second to think about how I might feel about all of this?_

But I didn't. That didn't seem like it would do any good at the moment. So I just nodded and tried to smile.

The whole weekend was like that. Aunt Cass was like a little kid with a new toy. Me. By Sunday she had practically planned out the whole rest of my life. If she could have picked out a wife for me, and then gone shopping for my future house, I think she would have.

Tadashi was happy that I had the spotlight. He thought of it this way, now he finally had a brilliant brother he could hang out with. We could do brother-brother bonding things like inventing. But honestly, I wasn't entirely interested. I still wanted to be a normal kid with a normal life.

Liz tried to call me twice, once on Saturday and once on Sunday. Both times I pretended I couldn't come to the phone. That was a rotten thing to do, but I didn't know what to say to her.

After Liz called the first time I thought, _Maybe I should call back and tell her that we need to wait a week or so before we do anything else, sort of give ourselves time to think._

When she phoned the second time I thought, _Maybe I should tell Liz that we have to call the whole thing off, just stop it right now and forget about our plan. Then I'll apologize to her for making such a mess of things. And then I can start trying to figure out how to apologize to all my teachers. And to Mrs. Harford and Mrs. Burke and Aunt Cass._

And then I thought, _Maybe I should just change my name, dye my hair red, and move to Argentina._

I went over the whole situation again and again. It was too much to think about. And I had to admit it: I was lost. I had zero facts. I was listening, and I was watching, but that next good thing was nowhere to be seen.

So I did nothing. All weekend long I lay low. I tried not to think about anything, which never works.

I knew I'd have to talk to Liz at the bus stop in the morning. And I knew that something would have to happen after that.

Because that's one of those completely dependable facts: Something always happens next.

* * *

 **Review Replies:**

 **Iron Rose Writer -** That's actually a pretty bad plan. As plans go, it's good and what he trying to accomplish is good but the way he's trying to do it is bad. For many kids, getting zeros and failing classes could be detrimental, especially for high schoolers. I haven't read the book but I hope Hiro doesn't actually try it. - **Well, you'll just have to wait and see...**

 **Anonymous (guest) (chapter 3) -** Chapter 3... I definitely feel like the plot of the cat and copycat was copied out of a book somewhere. This is plagiarism, so I reccomend changing it up abit, or citing the author of the book~ - **It was. It was copied out of The Report Card by Andrew Clements. And I've given him credit quite a few times, and at the _beginning_ of the story. You might have missed that. I'll do it in this chapter again, okay?  
**

 **Guest (guest) (chapter 4) -** Chapter 4... Does Beverly Clearly and her "Ramona" series strike your memory? Because scenes from this story seem almost exactly like scenes from her book... - **It's not. It's taken from The Report Card by Andrew Clements.**

 **Anonymous (guest) (chapter 1) -** Chapter 4... Now I am certain that some scenes were copied from a book. Does Beverly Clearly and her "Ramona" series strike your memory? I don't think it was intended, but I would consider revising the story~ - **It was _still_ taken from The Report Card by Andrew Clements.**

 **firelass19 -** DAAAAMMMNNN! is world domination part of your schedule too, Hiro? O.o - **Yep, that is quite a plan they have there, isn't it?**

* * *

 **I would like to remind everybody that this story belongs to Andrew Clements. (Not Beverly Clearly.) I am just rewriting it with Big Hero 6 characters for fun because I want to, and because I thought up and amazing sequel I want to write and share with the world. So I'm sorry for any trouble I might have caused. I just wanted to have some fun.**

 **I hope you are all still enjoying the story.**

 **Review.**


	20. Chapter 20: A Short Vacation

**A Short Vacation**

* * *

Tadashi had earned a perfect attendance record in grades four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, and eleven. He loved going to school. And Tadashi had never, never tried to stay home from school on purpose, not once. At least not during my lifetime. That's why I had be forced to learn about faking being sick from Tadashi's friend, Fred.

Fred pretended to be sick about once a month, usually about three days after he got a new comic book or video game. He knew how to make himself throw up. He could make his face break out in red blotches. He could seem to come down with a sudden fever. He was the master.

I only faked being sick when I absolutely had to, and that's how I felt on Monday morning. I couldn't deal with Liz or Mrs. Harford or Aunt Cass or anybody. I needed to be alone.

So first I got myself nice and hot by stepping on my desk chair about thirty times. Then I climbed into bed, pulled up the covers, and called, "Aunt Cass? Could you come in here? My stomach doesn't feel so good."

One hand on my forehead was all it took. "You feel a little feverish, too. Poor dear...probably on of those bugs that's going around. This is such a miserable time of year!"

A few minutes later Aunt Cass brought me a tray with a glass of Sprite and some dry toast. As she fluffed my pillows and tucked in my quilt, she said, "I've got some appointments to go to today, Hiro, but I'll check in by phone, okay? I called Mrs. Witt next door, and she's home all day today. She'll come over to check on you in an hour or so. She's got a key. And I'll come home at lunchtime. If you need anything at all call me, all right? And you stay right here and rest."

I only nodded. I was too weak to speak.

Five minutes later a beautiful silence settled over the house. And finally I felt like I could actually think.

Except I didn't. I went downstairs to the family room and did the opposite of thinking: I turned on the TV. I flipped to The Learning Channel and toured castles in Ireland for a while, then I explored the Great Barrier Reef, and then went digging for dinosaur bones in Wyoming. I was on vacation.

At about nine-thirty Mrs. Witt opened the front door and called, "Yoo-hoo, Hiro, it's me, Mrs. Witt." She came into the family room, fussed around a few minutes, and then left.

I was just beginning a submarine journey to the wreck of the _Titanic_ when the phone rang. I hit the mute button on the remote, and using my sickest voice, I said, "Hello?"

It wasn't Aunt Cass. A lady said, "Hello...may I speak with Miss Hamada?"

I've always been told never to let a caller know that I was home alone. So I said, "My aunt's out in the backyard with Cujo. That's our German shepherd. May I have your name and number so she can call you back in a few minutes?"

There was a pause and the lady said, "Hiro? Is that you?"

And then I knew that voice. It was Mrs. Harford. I gulped and said, "Yes." And to stall for time I asked, "Who is this?"

"It's Mrs. Harford, Hiro. I need to speak with your aunt."

The tone of her voice told me that this was not a social call. Probably about the meeting for getting me into the gifted program."

I said, "Well, I stayed home sick today, and my aunt's not really here right now. And we don't really have a dog, either, we have a cat. And Aunt Cass had to go out for a bit. But she has a phone with her." And I gave Mrs. Harford the phone number.

She said, "Thank you," and she hung up before I could even say, "You're welcome" or "Good-bye," or anything. Seemed pretty rude, but I didn't think about it because I went right back to my exciting undersea exploration.

Just as the first submarine was getting its remote camera into the dining room of the _Titanic_ , Aunt Cass came bursting through the front door. She was halfway up the stairs to my room before she heard the TV, and then in two seconds flat she was standing in front of me.

With her eyes flashing and her voice down low in the danger zone, she said, "Shut off the TV. Go upstairs and get on your school clothes. Now."

"But I'm sick."

Aunt Cass said, "I doubt that, but frankly, right now it doesn't matter. Get dressed. We've got to be at school in ten minutes. So move it."

"Why?"

She shook her head. "Hush. Hurry."

Three minutes later we were backing out of the driveway. I hadn't even brushed my teeth. I said, "How come we have to have a meeting about the gifted program today? What's the big rush?"

Aunt Cass kept her eyes on the road, both hands tight on the steering wheel. She shook her head. "That's _not_ what this meeting is about. Not by a long shot. This meeting is about zeroes, Hiro. Like the ones you got on those tests on Friday."

My heart started pounding. "I...I was going to tell you about that, Aunt Cass. That was just a crazy idea I had. But it's all over now. I'm not going to do that anymore. Honest."

My aunt darted a sideways look at me, then back at the road. "Well, that's fine for you. But what about all the other kids?"

"The other kids? What are you talking about?"

Glancing at me again, Aunt Cass said, "Don't play dumb with me, Hiro. That's _never_ going to work again. I'm talking about the social studies quiz that Mrs. Butterfield gave this morning. Mrs. Harford just called me and said that all but two students on the whole Blue Team got zeroes on the quiz. That's forty-two zeroes. And because of what happened on Friday, Mrs. Harford would like to have a little talk with you. And with me."

Aunt Cass was done sharing. She pressed her lips together in a thin, hard line and drove the car. It was about another two minutes to school.

Aunt Cass hadn't given me a lot of information, but I processed all the available data.

Three seconds later I knew. I knew exactly what had happened. Someone had had a busy weekend.

And I knew something else, too: When Liz had tried to call me on Saturday and Sunday, I should have talked to her.

* * *

 **Review Replies:**

 **celrock -** I'm glad to see that Hero's aunt is so inthusiastic about his gifted abilities, but I can see how this is getting to be a bit much for Hero, and how he'd kind of like to be like a normal kid. Any child who's gifted like that, or a lot of the child celebreties must feel that way at times. Anyway, keep up the great writing, and as a reminder, granted, while I haven't read the original book, so I can't say for sure if you're plagerizing or not, regardless, you're doing a spoof of the book, something that TV shows and movies do all of the time. So, don't fret over it too much. As long as you give the author credit for the work, you'll be ok. I've written several Rugrats stories that were spoofs of Full House episodes, and nobody's said a thing. Though my stories weren't completely exactly like the episode, there were other pieces added in to spice it up a little bit and change it around, but the plot of the story was similar enough. Like this one story I did, Rosie's Regretful Return, had a similar plot to the episode of Full House where Michelle and Teddy didn't play together anymore because Teddy only wanted to play with boys, but there were parts in my story that also happened in that episode, as well as events in my story that didn't happen in that episode of the show. Same with Crushed Sherry Berry. It was very similar to the episode of Full House, Crushed, where Stephanie has a crush on Tommy Page, but I did change up some things in the Rugrats story a little bit. Like I had Tommy show an OC named Sherry Berry, embarrasing movies taken of the OC Peter, rather than still photographs of embarrassing pictures, like what Stephanie showed of D.J. to Tommy Page. No one has made a big deal about my stories, and I appreciate you for being respectful, and I would really appreciate it, if the other reviewers on this story, would lay off that fact. The story doesn't have too many more chapters to go, I think it's pretty clear by now what's going on, so lay off and just enjoy the story ok? I'm enjoying it, no matter where it came from. A Big Hero Six spoof of a book is pretty cool, considering I actually haven't seen the movie, I do know the character of Hero is a genius, so this story actually makes for a good back story about Hero's childhood, before the events of the movie, which, I believe that movie takes place when he's in college, so as far as I'm concerned, good work, and keep up the great writing! - **Thanks. I think my story's a little more like the book than my original ideas, but still, I have given credit many times and that's what matters.**

 **Dreamer (guest) -** Seeing how most of the reviews you replied to where talking about plagerism...once again...I would like you to know that you have given the credit multiple times even when you had already done so. If the people do not read the author notes that would be on them, but you are still not plagerising (from what I know of) because you have given the credit to the author, are not using this for profit, and you are not using this for a school paper. So even if you are using a majority of his scences, you should still be good because of the credit and the above reasons. I wanted to get that out there because it doesn't seem like too many people are noticing your multiple attempts and I am almost 100% sure you are NOT in the WRONG. I also wanted to boost your confidence as if anything it is making me want to read Andrew Clement's works...so in a way, this could even be a promotion of sorts. - **Thanks, I hope reviewers get the message! And thanks for the confidence boost!**

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 **Thank you all for your wonderful support. We have two chapters to go people! And, of course, a wonderful sequel, written by me (original), so let's finish this on a strong note!**

 **Thanks for reviewing everyone!**

 **Review please!**


	21. Chapter 21: Rebellion

**Rebellion**

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The principal's office looked way too familiar to me. The one big difference was that today there were so many people in the room that they couldn't all fit at the round table.

One lady was sitting at Mrs. Harford's desk. I knew who she was because I'd seen her on cable TV. It was Mrs. Soto, the school superintendent.

Mrs. Jensen sat in a folding chair next to the principal's desk. Tiffany Nath, the guidance counselor, was there too, and beside her was the school secretary. She had a notepad on her lap, ready to keep track of who said what.

Mrs. Harford sat at her usual spot at the table. Ruth Burke sat on her left, and then there were Mrs. Butterfield and Mr. Lillie.

My aunt's eyebrows went up when she saw Liz and her mom and dad sitting at the table. I wasn't surprised at all. In fact, I'd have been amazed not to see them. But then came Destery Willows and both his parents, and I had no clue why they were at the meeting.

Liz caught my eye as I took a chair at the table, and I saw the slightest flicker of a smile. I looked away. There are times when nothing is more dangerous than a smile. This was one of those times.

Mrs. Harford cleared her throat and said, "It's been quite a morning here at San Fransokyo Elementary School. Mrs. Butterfield, please begin by telling us what happened at your third-period social studies class."

Mrs. Butterfield nodded at Mrs. Harford and said, "I had prepared a twelve-question quiz from the weekend reading assignment in the social studies book. We talked about the chapter, and then I passed out the quiz. It was just one page. When everyone was finished, I had the students exchange papers, take out their red pencils, and we began discussing the answers. There was a lot of laughing as we corrected the quiz, so I began walking around the room. And I saw that almost every student had written a nonsense answer to every question."

Mrs. Harford said, "A nonsense answer?"

"Yes," said Mrs. Butterfield. "For example, on the question, 'Who was the president of the United States at the start of the Great Depression?,' students wrote answers like, 'Donald Duck' or 'Elvis' or 'my uncle Lenny'. Very silly. And wrong.

Mrs. Harford said, "And what grade did most of your students get on this quiz?"

Mrs. Butterfield glanced at me before she answered. "Zero. All but two of them got a zero. And then during fourth period, when the other half of the Blue Team has social studies, I warned the class before the quiz that there was to be no funny business. But when the quizzes were graded, it was the same thing. All zeros, except for two of the students who didn't participate in the...silliness."

I'd have bet anything that one of those two kids was Destery Willows. But it wasn't important at the moment.

Mrs. Harford said, "Who wants to start explaining this?"

Liz and I both said "I do" at the same moment, but I was the one who kept on talking. "It's all my fault, Mrs. Harford. I got this idea that if I got some zeroes on tests, and then if we talked some other kids into getting some zeroes, we could get people to notice how everybody is so crazy about grades and test scores all the time, and how that's kind of a problem. So this whole thing is my fault."

Liz shook her head and said, "That was my idea, the part about getting zeroes. And then we worked on the plan some more together. But that part was my idea, remember?"

At that moment I wished Liz could have been a little less honest, because then she would have seen that I wasn't trying to steal the credit for her idea. I was trying to keep us from getting run out of town by an angry mob of teachers and parents. And guardians.

But Liz wasn't clever that way, and there wasn't a sneaky bone in her body. Which is one of the things I've always liked about her.

So I said, "Okay, yes. That part was your idea, but I was the one who was putting the idea into action. I was the one who started things off by getting some zeroes last Friday, and then we didn't talk this weekend, and I guess you must have called a bunch of kids, right? And that's why everyone else got zeroes today. But it's still really my fault. And I'm sorry. And now it's all over."

Mrs. Harford said, "I wish it were that simple, Hiro. But it's not. First, there's the matter of this handbill that Liz was trying to pass out in the halls today." She passed sheets of paper to the left and right. I stared at my copy as Mrs. Harford read it out loud.

 _CALLING ALL KIDS!_

 _Tired of stupid tests?_

 _Tired of fighting for grades?_

 _Do you hate those STAR tests?_

 _Then join the rebellion!_

 _ENLIST TODAY!_

 _HOW?_

 _SIMPLE!_

 _GET A ZERO ON YOUR NEXT TEST!_

 _LETS SHOW EVERYBODY THAT WE CAN THINK FOR OURSELVES!_

 _QUESTIONS? ASK LIZ GORBOKI._

Mrs. Harford looked at Liz and then around the room. "Rebellion," she said, "is not something we need or want at San Fransokyo Elementary School."

I was stunned. I couldn't believe Liz had done something so bold. And she'd put her name on that thing! And then she'd gotten all but two of the kids on our team to actually do it, too! Liz must have talked on the phone the whole weekend.

Mrs. Harford continued, "And then there's the matter of Liz and Destery's fight."

Mr. Willows raised his hand and said, "I don't accept that. It was not a fight!" He pointed at Liz. "That child attacked my son, and he was forced to defend himself. And don't forget that Destery is one of the two students that didn't go on with this...this conspiracy."

I'd never seen Destery's dad before, but I was guessing he was a lawyer.

Mrs. Gorboki glared at him and said, "Liz has never attacked anyone in her life!"

Mrs. Harford said, "Please. Let's stay focused here. There was a shoving match in front of the school this morning, and it looked like trouble to the teacher who was out there on bus duty. And Mrs. Jensen had to pull both students apart to stop it. Isn't that right?"

Mrs. Jensen nodded. "Yes. It wasn't exactly a fight, but it was certainly headed that way. It was a definite skirmish."

I almost smiled at that. Leave it to Mrs. Jensen to find the perfect word. Skirmish.

Mrs. Harford said, "Very well. I'd like to summarize our situation. We have two students who have admitted that they organized and encourage rebellious behavior. And we have two students who were nearly fighting. But our most serious problem is that half of the fifth-grade class decided to treat two quizzes as if they did not matter at all. They treated their schoolwork like it was a big joke." Mrs. Harford looked around the table. Then she looked right at me and said, "A disobedient attitude has been set loose in our school. And we've got to stop it. Now."

The lady sitting at Mrs. Harford's desk stood up. Everybody turned to look at her and she said, "I'm Susanne Soto, Superintendent of Schools. When I spoke with Mrs. Harford an hour ago, I advised her to isolate the Blue Team students from the other children in the school. That's why they've all been in the library for the past forty-five minutes. The nurse and the custodian are acting as emergency substitutes so their regular teachers could be here at this meeting."

Mrs. Soto paused.

There's a special way that presidents and mayors stand and tilt their heads and hold their hands when they give important speeches. That's how Mrs. Soto looked.

She swung her eyes slowly across her audience and said, "About a year ago we had a problem with vandalism at the junior high school. Lockers were damaged; mirrors in the washrooms were broken; walls were written on, and books were destroyed. And I'm sorry to report that it took more that eight months to get the vandalism completely stopped. Why did it take so long? It's very simple: because the principal of that school did not jump on that problem soon enough. Or hard enough. Our situation today is not quite as serious as vandalism, but it's not so different either. If the children who got zeroes on those quizzes go to lunch forty minutes from now and start laughing and bragging about what they've done, this defiant attitude could easily spread to the rest of the school. And that must not happen. That is why we have to handle this problem forcefully...and immediately. Every student in the San Fransokyo schools must understand that tests and grades are serious business. Every student in our schools must always try to do his or her best to earn excellent scores. That's what education in San Fransokyo is all about: Excellence. And right now those students in the library are confused about that. So we've got to solve this problem in the next thirty minutes. Mrs. Harford?"

Mrs. Harford smiled briefly and nodded. "Thank you, Mrs. Soto. What we're going to do is have a meeting with the whole Blue Team, right now, just across the hall in the library. We are going to stay focused on the facts, and we are going to point out the mistakes that have been made. We are going to make it clear that this type of behavior cannot and will not be tolerated ever again. And to emphasize the seriousness of this matter, Mrs. Soto and I have decided that Hiro Hamada and Liz Gorboki are suspended from school for two weeks, effective immediately."

My first thought was for Aunt Cass. Aunt Cass gasped and then sat there like a statue, her back straight and stiff, and I could see the beginning of a tear in her eye. I could tell I was going to have to keep her away from the sweets in the cafe. She was a very bad stress eater. But anyway, I felt terrible for her.

And then I saw Liz, sitting there trying to get her mind around what that meant. "Suspended from school for two weeks." Her face was pale, and both her mom and dad were looking right at me. There was no doubt in anybody's mind: I was the cause of this whole mess. And that's how I felt too.

I imagined what would happen at the big team meeting. There would be a long lecture with Mrs. Harford shaking her finger a lot. And Mrs. Soto would be frowning at our friends and threatening to kick everyone else out of school, just like they were suspending Liz and me. And of course, Destery Willows would be sitting there the whole time with a smug smile on his face. Awful. And there was nothing I could do about it.

Fact: Once a plan starts to collapse, it comes crashing down fast. All you can do is try to jump out of the way. And sometimes you can't.

Mrs. Harford was about to say something else when Mrs. Jensen raised her hand. The principal said, "Yes, Mrs. Jensen?"

Mrs. Jensen stood up and smoothed the front of her skirt. "Mrs. Harford, I need to say something. I do not agree with this punishment." Her voice wasn't loud, but it was strong. "I think that the motives of Hiro and Liz should be taken into account here. The things they did may have been naive, and they have certainly caused some problems for Mrs. Butterfield and Mr. Lillie and our fellow teachers. But these two weren't simply trying to stir up trouble. And what they've been doing has absolutely nothing in common with vandalism, Mrs. Soto. Vandalism is mindless and destructive, and what Hiro and Liz have been doing is anything but that."

Mrs. Harford stood up and leaned forward with both hands on the table. "That's quite enough, Mrs. Jensen. This is neither the time nor the place for personal opinions."

But Mrs. Soto held up a hand. "It's all right, Mrs. Harford. We have nothing to hide here. Our school district has always been a place for free and open discussion. So please continue, Mrs. Jensen."

Mrs. Jensen nodded at the superintendent and said, "Thank you. As I was saying, these are good kids, and their motives were good. These students were simply trying to get everyone to look more closely at some of the negative side effects of testing and grading. The teachers at this school, and every other school in this city, have raised the same kind of concerns. And teachers all across California have pointed out that this focus on test scores is unhealthy. Especially the STAR test scores. Hiro has experienced these issues first hand, and he's intelligent enough to have noticed the problems, and he and Liz have been brave enough to try and do something about it, braver than the rest of us have been. So I want to go on record here. I am flatly opposed to these suspensions. And I think that many of the other teachers in our schools and perhaps a good number of people in the city of San Fransokyo would agree with me."

When Mrs. Jensen finished, Einstein would have loved it. It was like that timeless moment before The Big Bang.

Then the universe began to explode.

There was a short burst of applause as Mr. Lillie and Mrs. Butterfield got up from the table and walked over to stand beside Mrs. Jensen. They were "fellow teachers" like Mrs. Jensen had mentioned, and teachers stick together.

Aunt Cass stopped holding her breath.

Mrs. Gorboki patted Liz's arm, and Liz began to get some color back in her face. Then Aunt Cass and Mrs. Gorboki started talking back and forth above my head. Liz's dad took out a handkerchief and blew his nose, and then wiped his forehead, which was the wrong order, if you think about it.

Destery's mom had one eyebrow lifted and she whispered something in her husband's ear. Destery sat there with a twerpy grin on his mug and he tried to catch my eye, but I ignored him.

Mrs. Harford tried to keep all her face muscles under control, and in the middle of all the noise and chatter she kept saying, "Let's stay focused, people!"

The superintendent looked around and kept her lips pulled back into a tight smile, but her eyes told the real story. I could see her imagining what might happen if this issue broke loose and started bouncing all over the city.

The school secretary had given up trying to take notes, and when she started talking with Tiffany Nath, words and phrases floated across the table. "Really?...Oh, yes. Because on Monday it was only...and when she told me that...noo! You're kidding!...Yes, I heard that too!"

Mrs. Burke just smiled. The psychologist was enjoying herself.

And me? I was trying to see everything at once.

Then I looked at Mrs. Jensen. She was in her chair again, her hands folded on her lap. We exchanged a look, only for a second. A lot was said during that glance. It was not a kid-to-teacher moment. It was person to person.

Finally Mrs. Harford pushed her voice up an octave and said, "Come to order, please. Everyone! Please, quiet down!" And when the room was quiet, she said, "Thank you. Now I have an idea or two, but perhaps our superintendent should give us her thoughts first."

Mrs. Soto kept her smile locked in place, but I could tell she had no clue what to do. Again her eyes gave her away. I could see her problem, everyone could: If she took too strong a stand, she might have a real rebellion on her hands. And if she took too weak a stand, then she would lose some of her authority.

Mrs. Soto said, "Well, I...I really think that, all things considered, we shouldn't try to handle this at the district level. This is a local school issue, and since you're the principal, Mrs. Harford, I think we should hear your ideas first."

It was another Einstein moment, time and space suspended, all eyes on Mrs. Harford's face.

Everyone could see what was happening. Two powerful, intelligent women were each scared to take the next step. And I ft bad for both of them. After all, I was the one who had gotten everyone into this mess in the first place. I wished I could help them.

Then something began happening. Something new.

I've always been the light bulb guy. Thoughts would come bursting out of nowhere, like a lightning bolt on a sunny afternoon. BOOM! And I'd have a new idea.

This was different. An idea was definitely coming, but softly. It was like I was looking at a broad, green lawn, and then there was a passing cloud or a shift in the wind, and every blade of grass snapped to attention, sharp and crisp.

And there across the lawn I could see the footsteps of an idea, a simple path, and I could see it had always been there. And the path was for me.

All I had to do was the next good thing.

I raised my hand.

Mrs. Harford had never been happier to call on someone. "Yes, Hiro?"

I don't know why I stood up before I started talking, but I did. I said, "If it's all right with you, Mrs. Harford, I'd like to talk to the whole Blue Team. I think...I think I need to say something...to everyone. And then, whatever you and Mrs. Soto decide to do about punishments and everything, that'll be okay with me."

And instantly Liz stood up and said, "Me too."

There we were again, equal partners.

Mrs. Harford looked from Liz to me, and then turned to look at Mrs. Soto. Mrs. Soto turned to look at me, and then she looked back at Mrs. Harford. And then Mrs. Harford looked at me again and said, "That sounds like a reasonable request. I think we should all walk across the hall to the library right now."

It must have felt like a reasonable request to everyone, because the whole room seemed to heave a sigh of relief.

As people started getting up and moving toward the door of the office, Aunt Cass leaned my way and whispered, "I sure hope you know what you're doing."

I whispered back, "Me too."

* * *

 **Accidentally** **hit the back button on my computer. I have to do this all again! *grumbles***

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 **Review Replies:**

 **Kiki Anderson -** wow, I love this story! it's amazing. will hiro ever except the fact that he's a prodgiy? I can't wait for the next chapter! keep up the amazing work! - **Thanks!**

 **celrock -** Oh wow, another great chapter here. First of all, clever plan in terms of faking his aunt out with making himself look and seem sick. However, it appears that everybody went along with Hero's plan to get 0's and flunk a test, so, I'll be curious to see how this meeting goes in the second to last chapter, and what ends up happening to Hero. Also, amazing that this story is almost done, I'm looking forward to reading the final 2 chapters. Also, to the other reviewers, thank you for looking at this story as a positive thing, not a negative act of plagerizing. It's very much appreciated. And yeah, I do agree, this is sort of a way to promote the original author's work if you may, where the original book is concerned, so, good work here! As always, keep up the great writing! - **I'm really glad you're enjoying it. Keep reading!**

 **Guest (guest) -** Oh great he's started a movement - **Always! :P**

 **firelass19 (chapter 19) -** Don't half-ass it Hiro! Continue with the plan and if it fails, it at least failed epically :) - **That would be awesome. But then Hiro would be the bad guy. *shrugs* We'll see.**

 **firelass19 -** Oh gawd... I think this is good... I mean, props to Liz! Hiro should be motivated to continue his 'responsibilities' now. - **Or...maybe he'll be motivated to continue his responsibilities as a ' _Hiro_ '! *stares at audience* *audience boos* Okay, okay fine. Maybe he'll be motivated to continue his responsibilities as a hero. There. Now it's boring. *audience ****applauds* Whatever... :P**

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 **So, this is the second time I had to respond to these reviews and write my AN. The one time I don't save it. The ONE time.**

 **Anyways, I'm so sorry there wasn't a chapter yesterday. My sister who is SUPPOSED TO BE IN COLLEGE RIGHT NOW came back home and now I have to share a room again and my parents are not happy.**

 **That and my cat is sick (I'll save you the gross details) and she is locked in my bathroom and scratches at the door all night. And meows. But, oh well.**

 **But my reason for not uploading? Well, honestly, there is going to be a sequel to this story, just in case you didn't know (or forgot) and I'm going to upload THE FIRST CHAPTER when I upload THE LAST CHAPTER of this story which is THE NEXT CHAPTER. And I wanted time to work on the sequel because I don't have any chapters saved up and I want to be able to upload every day like I have been with this story.**

 **Because this story is my biggest hit and so honestly this story has most of my attention. I mean, I'm working on my other stories, but not as hard as I am on this one. So, yeah.**

 **So, I hope this extra long chapter makes up for the no update yesterday. This chapter is over 3,000 words before my AN and usually my chapters for this story are 1,000 words before my AN. So this chapter is triple in length. And the last chapter is going to be around 3,000 words, too. So get ready.**

 **And I am ninety-nine point nine percent sure I'm updating this tomorrow and uploading the sequel. So be ready. You're not going to want to miss this!**

 **Anyways, I'm probably boring you and I need to go to bed and work on my other stories now. So good night!**

 **And, as always, review!**


	22. Chapter 22: The Next Good Thing

**I am so sorry it took me so long to upload this guys. But thanks for sticking with me!**

 **Oh and a big shout out to celrock! It's her birthday today! Happy birthday!**

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 **The Next Good Thing**

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It took a while to get everyone settled in the library. The chairs and tables were pushed aside and the kids sat on the floor in the middle of the room. All the grown-ups and teachers sat on chairs at the edges and in the back.

It didn't feel like an assembly or a weekly meeting. There was no squirming, no whispering, no giggling. There wasn't even any smiling. It felt like a funeral. My funeral.

Mrs. Harford stood in front of the main desk and waited until the last grown-ups were seated. I stood beside her and Liz was next to me. Aunt Cass was sitting off to the left. She seemed a million miles away, and I thought how nice it would feel to be sitting there next to her again.

It was hard to breathe. I knew what I wanted to say, but I wasn't sure how to begin. Or how to end. Then I thought, _What about Liz? What is she going to say? I mean, a girl who could make that kind of a handout could do anything! What if she raises one fist and shouts, "Hey, everyone! Kids rule! Let's get this rebellion going!" and then she starts running around the library, ripping books off the shelves and breaking the furniture? Or...or what if Mrs. Harford changes her mind all of the sudden, and she stands there and points at us and says, "Hiro and Liz have been wicked, wicked children, and I have decided that they shall both be expelled from school forever! Out! Get out of here, both of you!"_

Imagination can be torture, so I was glad when Mrs. Harford started talking.

She looked around the room slowly as she spoke. "We are here this morning because some serious mistakes have been made. I think all of you know what I'm talking about. Hiro Hamada has asked if he could speak to the whole Blue Team, and I have given him permission. Liz Gorboki has something to say too." Then she looked at me. "Hiro?"

No long speech, no extra time to think. A few quick sentences and now it was all up to me.

I looked out over those faces and I froze. I gulped. I opened my mouth. I tried to begin, but nothing came out.

So Liz said, "Hiro and I started talking about something last week, and that's what he wants to tell you about."

I nodded, and I gulped again, and then I said, "Yes. It was about grades. I've been worried about grades for a long time. I think a lot of kids do that, but I wasn't just worried about getting good grades or bad grades. I was worried about grades themselves, about the whole idea of grades. Because grades and test scores can make kids feel like winners or losers. And I didn't like that. Because I saw some kids start thinking they were dumb after we all took the STAR test last year. And they weren't dumb, not at all. So I wanted to do something about that. And I guess it wasn't so smart to think that I could change everything by myself, or even with Liz's help. Or that everything could change quickly. Because that's not how things happen. But I felt like I had to do something...anything. And then Liz and I got this idea about getting zeroes, but that made it look like we thought school was a joke or something. And it's not a joke. We don't think that. We just wanted everybody to look at the numbers and the letters and the test scores and really think about them. But things went too far, and then everybody got upset, and I don't want that. I know school's important, and it's important to do good work, and I think almost every kid does; good work, I mean. And the teachers do, too. And I didn't understand how a lot of teachers feel sort of the same way I do about testing and grades. So we have to do this together. To make things better. And that's all I wanted to say. That I'm sorry about the trouble. Because there are other ways to make things better."

Liz nodded and said, "Yeah, I'm sorry too. And especially for that stuff about rebellion. I know why it happened, though, like, why I made that flyer and everything. Because it was exciting. I mean, all of a sudden I felt like my grades didn't have this huge power over me. And I guess I got carried away. Even so, I learned a lot. And I'm not going to be afraid of tests and grades anymore, not like I was. But I'm sorry about the trouble, like Hiro said."

I waited for more, but Liz was done.

I didn't see, but I think it was Aunt Cass who started clapping. And then everyone clapped a little, even Mrs. Soto. It was pretty embarrassing.

But Mrs. Harford held her hands up and it got quiet right away. She said, "I know we have all learned some important lessons today, and I know each of us will remember how important it is to always do our best work. And now I'd like the team teachers to take all the students to their homerooms until you are dismissed for lunch."

And that was it. We were done. No more talk of being suspended, no threats, no shouting, no finger shaking. I followed Mrs. Harford's orders and started moving toward my homeroom teacher. It seemed to good to be true.

It was. From about fifteen feet away the principal called, "Hiro, please ask your aunt to join me back in my office for a few minutes. And you, too."

A minute later we were face-to-face with Mrs. Harford again. And then Mrs. Burke came in and sat down.

Mrs. Harford said, "I'm glad the morning has ended as calmly as it has, but there's another matter to discuss. We need to resolve Hiro's placement. Mrs. Burke and I feel that she needs to be in the gifted program."

Aunt Cass nodded and said, "I agree completely. I'm going to have some independent testing done, and Hiro's going to take a placement test at Connections Academy next week. But the gifted program should be fine until we see where he really belongs."

Mrs. Burke said, "Excellent. Most students currently in the program take two to six gifted periods each week, but in Hiro's case we feel that except for homeroom, gym, art, and music, he should be in the special-classes pod all day."

Someone so close to getting kicked out of school probably should have kept his mouth shut, but I couldn't. I didn't even raise my hand or ask if it was alright if I talked. I just blurted it out. "I don't want to be in the gifted program. I like my teachers, and I like my friends, and I want to stay where I am."

Mrs. Burke smiled and said, "We can all understand your reluctance, Hiro. Change is always a little scary. But you can't help being who you are. You are extremely intelligent. You just are. You are so far above average that the normal classes move too slowly for you."

I shook my head. "But if I finish my work or if I already understand what the teacher's talking about, then I can just think about something else. I've always had plenty to think about. I'll run math problems in my head. I'll think about the poems I have memorized. Or I can get out a book and read. I want to stay in the normal classes because I like normal kids. I don't want special treatment, and I don't want teachers that are always trying to push me ahead."

Mrs. Harford wasn't trying to butt in and neither was Aunt Cass. This was between me and Mrs. Burke.

She said, "But think of it this way, Hiro. How will you reach your full potential if you don't accept new challenges?"

"I'm not trying to be a smart aleck, but please, think about that," I said. "Am I really trying to get away from new challenges? Do you think that trying to be normal after what's happened this last week won't be a new challenge for me? And that stuff about working up to my full potential. Who gets to say what my full potential is? An IQ test? Shouldn't I have something to say about what I want to accomplish? What if what I really want is to be normal? What if being normal is my big goal in life? Is there anything wrong with that? To be happy and read books and hang out with my friends and play soccer and listen to music? To grow up and get a job and read the newspapers and vote in elections and maybe get married someday? Would that be so terrible? I know that I'm different, and I hope I'll always be smart. But I don't want to get pushed ahead so I'm always trying to do what someone else thinks a person with my intelligence ought to be doing. I want to use my intelligence the way I want to use it. And right now I want to be a normal kid."

While I was talking, it was like the words poured into my mind and out of my mouth like milk from a pitcher. I had never given a speech like that before.

And when I stopped no one said anything.

So I said, "May I go to my homeroom now? It's almost lunchtime and I don't want to be late. It's pizza today."

"Yes, Hiro, you may go."

And my favorite part was it wasn't Mrs. Harford who said that.

It was Aunt Cass.

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Lunchtime was a little weird, and my afternoon classes were strange too. There was a lot of whispering and I felt kids looking at me almost every second. It must have been the way a movie star feels at the grocery store. But I just tried to mind my own business and have a regular day. I tried to be normal.

The rest of the day had two best parts.

The first was when I went to see Mrs. Jensen right before I got on the late bus. I had been playing soccer in the gym so I was hot and sweaty and a little out of breath. I was cutting it close because I hoped the library would be empty. And it was. Mrs. Jensen was alone, sitting at her screen at the front desk. I think she saw me coming, but she didn't look up until I was right in front of her.

She smiled and said, "Big day?"

I smiled back. "Huge. Did you hear anything?"

"Oh, yes. More headline news in the teachers' room: STUDENT SAVES HIS OWN SKIN, THEN WINS FOLLOW-UP DEBATE. Very dramatic. I'm proud of you."

I blushed. "It wasn't so special."

Mrs. Jensen shook her head. "That's where you're wrong. It was. Everything you've done has been quite special and remarkable and wonderful."

I started to talk, but she said, "And don't say that you couldn't have done it without my help. There's and old saying: Nothing can stop an idea who's time has come. And this time is your time, Hiro. Now hurry up, run and catch your bus."

I said, "Well, thanks all the same, because you did help me. Tons," and I started to go. Then I turned back and said, "Mrs. Jensen, what college has the best courses in library science?"

She said, "There are a number of fine programs. Why do you ask?"

"You know," I said. "In case I want to reach my full potential."

Mrs. Jensen laughed and shooed me out the door.

But really, I wasn't kidding.

The other best thing was after the bus ride. Jadelyn got off at the corner too, but her house was in the other direction. So it was just me and Liz walking along the road.

She didn't say anything until we got to my house. She kicked a rock with the toe of her shoe. "What you said in the library about kids thinking they were dumb after the test last year? That was me, wasn't it?"

I nodded. "Yeah. It was you."

She looked at my face and then at the ground. "So all this was kind of about me?"

"Yeah. Kind of...but it was about me, too."

"Well, yeah," she said. "You mean about you being smart and everything, right?"

"Yeah," I said. "All that."

She smiled and said, "Maybe it would've been kind of fun to be suspended a couple weeks, d'y'think?"

"I don't think so," I said. "Too boring. A lot of stuff happens at school."

"Yeah," Liz said. "A lot!"

I couldn't think of anything else to say. Neither could Liz.

She said, "So I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Yeah," I said. "See you tomorrow."

And then I went in my house and Liz walk toward her house.

That three minutes with Liz wasn't so much if you only look at the events, like a scientist would. Because, really, what happened? Hardly anything. I hadn't tried to carry Liz's backpack. She hadn't looked into my eye and said, "Hiro, you're my best friend in the whole world." And we hadn't had a real discussion about school or tests or grades.

We just spent a little time together at the end of the day. Liz talked to me like a friend. Like I was a normal person. Just me, Hiro.

At that moment nothing could have made me happier.

And that's a fact.

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 **Review Replies:**

 **celrock -** Oh wow, great chapter as always! And I'm glad they're going to allow Hero and Liz to talk to the other students. Also, I agree with Mrs. Gennings, having them suspended is unfair and I felt she made a good valid point in terms of what Hero and Liz were trying to do, basically Hero's words more or less exactly. I do look forward to reading the last and final chapter of this story, and here's hoping you don't have to type it up twice, as I can't stand when that happens! Also, I've been lucky to never share a room with anybody, except for the times I went away to summer camp or any type of camp at any other time of the year. Good thing too. At least in those situations, I shared with all other girls. As for siblings, I'm a girl with an older brother, and even with separate rooms, we didn't always get along. I probably would not be alive today if we did share a room in our youth, as our wars would have only exculated. Well if anything, you take care, and, looking forward to the conclusion! - **Well, here it is! I hope you enjoyed it!**

 **OwlPatronus16 (guest) -** I love this story! I've never read anything my Andrew Clements but this story seriously made me want to read more of his work! I love the character of Liz so much, she's so brave and kind hearted! But seriously, I really admire you for sticking with this fic, and this is coming from a person with about 120 unfinished ones cued up in her dash. Great work, can't wait for the sequel! - **Oh trust me, I have plenty of unfinished fan fictions, some of them I haven't updated for _years._ This one, well, this one I just have so much inspiration for. So I've been updating it. Glad you like it!**

 **firelass19 -** OMG, sequel! Yesssssss, thank you SO FREAKING MUCH! And FYI, you are probably the fastest uploaded I am following so don't even be sorry for 'updating late'. I am so excited for the next chappie! - **Aw, thanks! Now get out there and read that sequel!**

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 **This is the FINAL chapter of _The Report Card._ Thank you all for sticking with me! The sequel is out! (Well, it will be out in like thirty minutes.) It is called _Face It: You're Not Normal._ Now I would like to thank everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed my story!**

* * *

 **This story (as of this update) had 76 reviews. (If I missed you or misspelled your name, PM me or review so I can fix it.)**

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 **So please only review or PM me your username to add to the list if you reviewed, favorited, or followed before this chapter. Thanks.**

 **And again, I'm sorry this took so long, but thanks for still reading. It means a lot! And again, happy birthday, celrock!**

 **Now go check out that sequel!**


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